Engineer Ari and his friends Jessie and Nathaniel, who first appeared in Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride, return in this second holiday picture-book adventure. Together the three build their sukkah - a temporary outdoor booth meant to suggest the huts used by ancient Hebrew farmers - in anticipation of Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival. As Ari drives his train from Jaffa to Jerusalem, his friends along the way give him things he needs for his sukkah, but how can he repay their kindness by inviting them to his celebration, when they live so far away? Fortunately, Jessie and Nathaniel have an idea...

Pairing an engaging story about friendship, generosity and a little ingenuity from American author and rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen with fun, colorful artwork from Israeli illustrator Shahar Kobar, Engineer Ari and the Sukkah Express is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, and an entertaining holiday title. Both books were inspired by the first trip on the Jaffa-Jerusalem train line, made in 1892, and there is an afterword here giving more information about that historical background. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for Sukkot stories, as well as to young train lovers. ( )

Engineer Ari, the first conductor of the new train from Jaffa to Jerusalem, builds a sukkah using leftover wood and other materials gathered from friends along his route. When the sukkah is complete, Ari and his friends figure out how to share it with everyone who contributed--by turning one of the train cars into the Sukkah Express! (Preschool - Grade 2) ( )