The Stars Will Be My Nightlight: A Sukkot Story

by Jen Halpern, Chiara Fedele (Illustrator)

Overview

"Can we sleep in the sukkah?"

the son asks his mom. She worries that it will be cold and dark, and that it might rain. “But the stars will be my nightlight,” the boy says, to which the mom smiles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728439044
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Pages:	24
Sales rank:	657,838
Product dimensions:	9.75(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.13(d)
Lexile:	510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Jen Halpern has been an educator for more than 25 years. She is the director of Agudas Achim Preschool in Alexandria, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and son. The Stars Will Be My Nightlight is her first book.

Chiara Fedele was born in Milan, where she attended the Brera Academy. Her illustrations have appeared in many picture books, including Yaffa and Fatima: Shalom, Salaam and The Rabbi and the Reverend: Joachim Prinz, Martin Luther King Jr., and Their Fight Against Silence. Chiara also teaches drawing and painting techniques. She lives in Pavia, Italy.

Editorial Reviews

"This pic­ture book is the per­fect bed­time sto­ry, invit­ing par­ents to cud­dle up with their lit­tle ones and cher­ish spe­cial time and tra­di­tions together."—Jewish Book Council

From the Publisher

2022-07-13
A young boy and his mom prepare to celebrate the harvest holiday of Sukkot.

“Do you know why we sit in the sukkah?” a mother asks her child. The boy states simply, “To remind us we are part of the Jewish people.” The mom and the boy, clutching his toy lion, head across the autumn-hued backyard to the tented sukkah, which has an open roof of woven branches and a string of overhead lights. As they hang decorations and fruit among the lights and settle in, the boy is full of questions. Can we turn on the lights? Can we read my bedtime story here? Of course they can, but Mom is reluctant to grant his request to sleep in the sukkah, offering several reasons against it. This wise child has answers for all her doubts, expressed in lovely, metaphorical language, including the charming title phrase, sure to appeal to little ones. Snuggles, giggles, and the promised story ensue, but the rain comes, causing tears and fears. Mom whispers of how the sukkah will protect them as it did the ancient Jews wandering in the desert. They recite the evening prayer together, the Sh’ma, and all is peaceful. Halpern mixes simple, descriptive syntax with striking imagery, providing young readers with a clear understanding of the characters’ loving relationship and their Jewish identity. Fedele presents the characters in large-scale close-ups with lush landscapes surrounding them and incorporates details not in the text that enlarge and enhance the tale. Both the mother and the boy are light-skinned and dark-haired. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A tender tale of love and traditions. (about Sukkot) (Picture book/religion. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews