Kirkus Reviews QR Code
THE BOY AND THE MOON by James Christopher Carroll

THE BOY AND THE MOON

by James Christopher Carroll & illustrated by James Christopher Carroll

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58536-521-0
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

Moonlit midnight revels nearly end in disaster until a small boy comes to the rescue. It’s midnight, and a boy with a teddy bear, a dog, a rabbit, an owl, a chicken, a toad and a flower gather in the backyard to dance and howl at the moon in joyous abandon. Somehow the moon gets stuck in an apple tree, which brings the dancing and howling to a halt. Who can help the moon? Owl’s afraid of heights, rabbit doesn’t feel lucky, toad hides, the flower faints, chicken has a bellyache and dog can’t climb trees. The boy, however, bravely scales the tree, but he can’t dislodge the moon from its branches—until he uses what’s available to save the night. Carroll’s magical illustrations transform his simple plot into a luminous moonlight fantasy. Crafted from paint, found objects and natural textures, his collages in midnight blues and silvery whites bathe the cavorting revelers in ethereal moonlight. Close-ups of the anthropomorphized moon interacting with the pajama-clad boy add to the overall aura of magical realism. Marvelous nighttime madness. (Picture book. 4-6)