IF THE MOON

Two kid lit powerhouses unpack the potential for beauty in the word if.

A short-haired, pale-skinned child quivers beneath the covers. “If can be a dark room where worries swell and rise…” That terror swiftly makes way for curiosity, though. Imagination takes hold, and the kid dives through a quilt into an ocean of possibilities. We discover what would happen “if you were a fish” or “if you were a hummingbird zipping around a garden.” Relying on jewel tones, Forsythe shifts perspectives creatively; on a spread from readers’ point of view, we see a pair of small hands spread out beneath a snowy sky (“If you were a snowflake on a fingertip, what perfectly unique pattern would appear?”). Burgess’ intermittent rhymes become more consistent as the text progresses, though at times, he relies on soft rhymes (lair with fur, for example). As the young protagonist returns to the cozy bed seen earlier, we notice the quilt, embroidered with the animals and wild adventures our hero has dreamed. At times, Forsythe’s scenes evoke the feel of classic picture books, as with an image similar to Max’s ship in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963). Not all readers will understand the necessity of knowing how to shift from scary “ifs” to more fun ones, but everyone who picks this one up will enjoy the wild ride.

Creative storytelling and art quell fears and reassure young minds.