Every family’s sukkah — the tem­po­rary dwelling built for the hol­i­day of Sukkot — is spe­cial. In Sidu­ra Lud­wig and Sophia Vin­cent Guy’s Our Spec­tac­u­lar Sukkah, a young girl build­ing a sukkah with her fam­i­ly has the high­est expec­ta­tions. Their sukkah will be, as the title claims, ​“spec­tac­u­lar,” as well as ​“glo­ri­ous, delight­ful, and dis­tinc­tive.” What fea­tures will mer­it this high praise? Read­ers learn that focused labor and seri­ous intent, not nec­es­sar­i­ly elab­o­rate dec­o­ra­tions, will make the struc­ture an appro­pri­ate reflec­tion of the festival’s meaning.

As the book begins, the girl’s excite­ment is focused on her par­ents and younger broth­er shar­ing an impor­tant expe­ri­ence with her. The booths con­struct­ed to rep­re­sent forty years of wan­der­ing in the desert are a reminder, for Jews, of the tran­si­tion from slav­ery to free­dom. A sukkah is tem­po­rary, but, for the week-long fes­ti­val, it needs to be strong enough to pro­vide space for meals, prayer, and even sleep. When the child in the book rec­og­nizes this para­dox, she feels some appro­pri­ate sad­ness, as a strong wind threat­ens to destroy all her efforts and hopes. But she learns that the sukkah, like all of Jew­ish life, involves community.

Ludwig’s sim­ple text cap­tures the girl’s intense emo­tions. The girl focus­es on the phys­i­cal require­ments of the sukkah as a pro­tec­tive home, and men­tions all the activ­i­ties that will take place with­in its walls, filled with pride that ​“we made it all our­selves.” When the real­i­ty of unpre­dictable weath­er inter­rupts her joy, she abrupt­ly turns to despair. This is the turn­ing point in the book, as neigh­bors arrive to save the sukkah — which is tru­ly ​“spec­tac­u­lar” because it is shared by everyone.

Guy’s mixed-media illus­tra­tions build the sto­ry visu­al­ly, as the girl and her fam­i­ly begin gath­er­ing mate­ri­als in the home, and then go out­doors to build the sukkah. Domes­tic details, such as coats hang­ing on hooks and box­es of craft mate­ri­als, start the process. The father stands on a lad­der, using his elec­tric drill to attach the thin wood­en beams. Faces reg­is­ter con­cern, antic­i­pa­tion, and relief through the series of events. When a diverse and multi­gen­er­a­tional group becomes involved in tasks that the girl had believed were her family’s alone, the change is trans­for­ma­tive. One scene shows her father again stand­ing on the lad­der, this time with­in the sukkah, as sev­er­al pairs of hands lift up the col­or­ful paper chains to adorn the inte­ri­or. Night falls, along with a sense of won­der at what every­one has accom­plished together.

Our Spec­tac­u­lar Sukkah is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed and includes an author’s note explain­ing the hol­i­day as well as instruc­tions for cre­at­ing a shoe­box sukkah.