Sukkot books for kids celebrate the harvest! These meaningful stories show Sukkot celebrated around the world and children everywhere building, playing in and enjoying their sukkahs. Check them out!
What is Sukkot?
Sukkot is a joyful week that begins after the Jewish high holidays, just five days after Yom Kippur.
During Sukkot, Jewish people build hut-like structures called sukkahs that symbolize the dwellings Jews lived in while wandering in the desert. Traditionally, the sukkah has three walls and a thatched roof which provides protection from the sun but also allows the stars to be seen from the inside.
During the week of Sukkot, Jewish families eat their meals in the sukkah and always invite others to share in their feast during this time. To commemorate the harvest bounty, it is tradition to hold and shake four species of plant inside the sukkah, including the palm, myrtle, willow (or the “lulav”) and the citron (“etrog.”)
Why is it important to read children’s books about Sukkot?
It is tremendously important for children to see themselves in the stories they read. Not only do Jewish children’s books reflect the diversity of Judaism, but they show Jewish kids that they are valued and important, too. Additionally, kids books about Sukkot help non-Jewish children learn about this meaningful Jewish holiday.
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Our Favorite Sukkot Books for Kids
Fall has arrived, which means its time to start preparing for Sukkot! Just as the animals start storing their food in trees and dens, a family begins to build their sukkah and, gathers decorations to hang from the roof and walls. Break out the lulav and etrog – Sukkot is almost here!
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Sara and her family are decorating beginning to decorate their sukkah in preparation for Sukkot, but suddenly their gourds go missing! When Sara and her brother sleep in the sukkah, they hear the sound of munching from above and eventually discover a squirrel is responsible for the missing gourds. Will the squirels be able to repay Sara and her family for what they have taken?
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This sweet board book for your youngest readers will help teach preschoolers all about Sukkot. From building a sukkah to shaking the symbolic lulav and etrog, this sweet story will prepare youngsters for the harvest holiday.
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Micah and his family are visiting the pumpkin patch and he can’t wait to pick out the most perfect pumpkin for Sukkot. While there, he learns that many of the pumpkins will be donated to a soup kitchen. Micah has a hard time determining which pumpkins to keep and which to donate, and eventually decides to keep only some pumpkin seeds which he knows will grow into a perfect pumpkin for next year. This is a beautiful story to teach young readers about both sukkot and the concept of tikkun olam, or helping others.
Henry the elephant is now living at a farm for old elephants and misses his circus days. Nobody cares to hear him sing, and he feels so lonely! When he hears music one day, he follows the sound to the Brennar’s sukkah, but poor Henry is too big to sit inside. Can Henry find a way to celebrate sukkot with his new friends within the sukkah? This one never fails to make my students laugh!
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Justine, Duane, and their neighbors are getting ready for Sukkot when a fire sweeps through their town. Even in the midst of catastrophe, however, they are still able to see small miracles around them. Once the fire subsided, the family discovers the cat, Tikvah, is still alive, and the sukkah remained unscathed. This is a touching story about Sukkot that also depicts the Oakland, California fires in the 1990s.
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In this fabulously illustrated and entertaining book, Auntie Sanyu constructs a sukkah right in the middle of her Ugandan garden. Lots of wildlife come to check it out, including a warthog, a lion and a giraffe, and they are all eager to celebrate Sukkot. Each animal hopes to shake the lulav and smell the etrog, but one of the animals wants these special items all for himself. Will he learn to share?
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Sadie and Ori wake up with excitement on the first day of Sukkot, and they can’t wait to take their breakfast outside — they will eat it in the sukkah, of course! But the kids remember that when they eat in the sukkah, they must invite special guests to share in their feast. Their parents aren’t up yet — will they find friends to invite?
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This is one of my very favorite Jewish children’s books, one that mesmerizes my students year after year. Two brothers, one wealthy and greedy and the other poor and gracious, each build a sukkah. One sukkah is grand, the other modest. Each brother is greeted by three mysterious guests in their respective sukkahs, and these guests are treated in radically different ways. Upon their departure, the guests leave behind some unique gifts for each brother — gifts that reward generosity over everything and may cause one brother to change his selfish ways.
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On his tenth birthday, Marcus is not celebrating at home, but fleeing the Holocaust in Europe instead. He and his parents are on an ocean liner headed for China. Marcus worries his new neighborhood in Shanghai will never feel like home, but with the help of a new friend and a rabbi’s curious riddle, Marcus sets out to build a sukkah in his new home, right on the roof of their new building, just in time for Sukkot.
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It’s nighttime, and Daniel and his sister Naomi are having an adventure. They are going to sleep in the sukkah — without any grownups! But — there’s nowhere in the sukkah to plug in a night light. And it’s a bit scary outside. Leave it to Naomi to help Daniel feel calmer — and to find a comforting way to remember their ancestors and the magic of Sukkot.
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Through beautiful illustrations and lyrical prose, this book is a perfect introduction to these two holidays. After the stillness and reflection of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, one family rings in the joy of Sukkot and Simchat Torah by performing celebratory traditions with family and friends, from building their own sukkah to dancing around the synagogue seven times when the Torah reading is finished and begun again. Beautiful!
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What is your favorite book about Sukkot? Let us know in the comments below!
Happy reading!
RELATED: We’ve got more than 100 children’s book lists on Happily Ever Elephants. Be sure to check out this link!
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