WHEN THE MOON SMILED

Despite the lack of an imbedded electronic chip, this bedtime counting book is solidly School of Eric Carle. As the crescent Moon, first met through an acetate window on the cover, lights one die-cut star after another, similarly increasing numbers of animals, from one dog to ten moths, either doze off or come awake, as appropriate. Using crayon and watercolor on pebbly paper, Horácek poses large, blocky, fuzzy-edged animals against a luminous rural background. Despite a few bobbles—a nighttime sky that turns a strange shade of brown on one spread, and a moon that smiles even when the text claims otherwise—this should provide quick bedtime quietude, as intended. (Picture book. 3-6)