Leo & Blossom's Sukkah

In her third picture-book celebration of Jewish holidays, Zalben turns to the harvest festival of Sukkot. Here siblings Leo and Blossom build, with a little help from friends, their own Sukkah--a three- or four-sided booth, with a branch-covered roof open to the stars, in which observant Jews eat all meals during the holiday. Parents pitch in and soon all is ready for a joyous communal feast. Mischievous Leo sprinkles the assemblage with a hose as Mama reminds them that ``rain means life.'' Zalben's characteristically sweet, finely detailed paintings of these thoroughly anthropomorphized bears, who starred in the preceding books, continue to engage. A helpful afterword includes the history of the holiday (it was the antecedent of the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving) and suggestions for decorating a Sukkah. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)