"A child's fear is sweetly tempered by the support of an older sister's comforting, natural solution." --Kirkus Reviews

A retelling of a much-loved story, complete with new illustrations.

His big sister Naomi is excited to sleep outside in the sukkah, but Daniel himself is a little nervous.

What about the dark nighttime shadows? What about the scary nighttime sounds?

Naomi tells him to be brave, like their ancestors were when they slept in huts in the desert . . . but that's hard!

Reviews

On the first night of Sukkot, Daniel is apprehensive about sleeping in the dark sukkah without a night light.

Older sister Naomi likes to show off her knowledge acquired in Hebrew school, so she tells Daniel all about the holiday. She explains how Jews remember their ancestors' journey from Egypt, why the sukkah is built, and the reason for an open roof made of tree branches.

Once the building and decorating of their sukkah is finished, Daniel's quiet anxiety parallels Naomi's eager excitement through the family's outdoor dinner. At bedtime, the siblings create a makeshift sleeping area in a corner of the sukkah. In the dark, scary nighttime noises and shadowy images disturb Daniel to the point where he begins to go inside. But to his surprise, Naomi, who has a touch of the heebie-jeebies herself, encourages him to stay and look up through the branches of the sukkah's open roof. He sees a sky full of stars, or night lights, as they glowed for the ancestors thousands of years ago.

Soft paintings provide a contemporary view of a White Jewish family with some parallel historical scenes of the forbearers making their way through the desert.

The interwoven explanation of the holiday within the context of the story is enhanced with an afterword that references today's refugees, who must live under precarious circumstances in temporary shelters.

A child's fear is sweetly tempered by the support of an older sister's comforting, natural solution. (Picture book. 5-7)

--Kirkus Reviews

Daniel, his old er sis ter Nao mi, and their par ents pre pare for Sukkot by build ing a sukkah in their back yard.

As they dec o rate, Daniel learns about the hol i day. Nao mi explains that in the sukkah "We're sup posed to see the sky through the roof." Just like their ances tors, who slept in huts after escap ing Egypt, Daniel and Nao mi will spend the night in their sukkah. They are usu al ly joined by Grand pa but this year he is sick with a cold so the kids are on their own. Daniel is hes i tant, recall ing the "scary nois es" he heard last year. It doesn't help that Nao mi teas es him about being afraid of the dark. She tells Daniel that he won't be able to bring his night light into the sukkah because there won't be a way to plug it in. "Do you think our ances tors had night lights...?" she asks. Fol low ing a fes tive din ner, it's time for bed but Daniel can't fall asleep. The sukkah feels dark and cold; it's a far cry from the cheer ful place it was ear li er that evening. Daniel is fear ful of the howl ing wind and the loud ani mal sounds he hears. He is also fright ened when scary faces appear to be form ing on the dec o ra tive squash es. Ted dy bear in tow, Daniel decides it is "Too hard being an ances tor" and wants to go back inside the house. How ev er, Nao mi asks him to stay admit ting that she too is feel ing a bit spooked. Togeth er, the sib lings look up to the sky. As the spark ing stars peek through the roof of the sukkah, Nao mi real izes that maybe the ances tors did have night lights after all. Daniel rec og nizes that, like him, maybe "Our ances tors were brave, and a lit tle scared, too." Final ly, the kids fall asleep.

The illus tra tions clev er ly depict the cur rent hap pen ings in the sto ry, includ ing sub text like the sukkah's tra di tion al dec o ra tions of hang ing fruits and paper chains. Some pages fea ture illus tra tions of the ances tors on their jour ney; those are in more mut ed tones. Also shown are ele ments of Daniel's imag i na tion includ ing the faces he "sees" on the squash es and the men ac ing shapes in the shadows.

The book also includes a brief but thought ful after word implor ing young read ers to think about safe ty and shel ter and how it relates to the hol i day. The author offers insights into the sig nif i cance of Sukkot pro vid ing a lens which mir rors some mod ern day child hood expe ri ences. Young read ers will enjoy the charm ing char ac ters and relat able fam i ly dynam ics, espe cial ly between the sib lings. Night Lights: A Sukkot Sto ry is a time less choice.

-- Jillian Bietz, The Jewish Book Council

Book Information
ISBN 9781681155470
Author Barbara Diamond Goldin
Format Hardback
Page Count 32
Imprint Behrman House Inc.,U.S.
Publisher Behrman House Inc.,U.S.