THE MOON IN SWAMPLAND
adapted by M.P. Robertson & illustrated by M.P. Robertson
Get ready for plenty of shivers, as Robertson retells a tale best known in this country as “The Buried Moon,” and illustrates it with eerie, misted swampscapes populated by plenty of green-skinned, Gollum-esque bogles. Heedless of the stars’ warnings, the Moon makes the mistake of coming down one night for a closer look at the Swampland. Just before its hungry, light-hating residents bury her deep in the muck, she manages one flash, allowing a similarly trapped human lad to escape. The local townsfolk become more and more troubled as, night after night, the moon fails to appear in the sky, until at last the rescued child persuades them to mount a rescue attempt of their own. Clambering through scenes of soggy, blue-lit hummocks and opaque pools, the web-fingered, razor-toothed swamp-dwellers give this atmospheric rendition a deliciously creepy edge. (source note) (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)