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MAGIC MOON

A YOUNG BOY'S JOURNEY

A message book with a bit of mystery.

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A young boy climbs a mountain to the Magic Moon in this children’s picture book.

The titular Moon will grant visitors two requests during their lifetimes—to find a lost treasure and to receive something good that won’t hurt anyone. A young white boy makes the journey and gets his first answer: His sister’s lost dolly is behind the woodpile. At school, a new student is ostracized and teased, but the protagonist plays with him, enjoying his invention involving a ball and a peach basket. The boy later climbs the mountain to ask the Magic Moon for “the secret of happiness.” But the Moon tells the boy that he already knows, reminding him of how he felt helping his sister and the new kid at school. His second trek isn’t wasted, though. The Moon says: “The difficult journey makes the happiness found at the end sweeter!” Debut author Moulton gives her Magic Moon an interestingly challenging personality with a booming voice, sometimes making jokes, sometimes oracular. This characterization rescues the story as a whole from becoming too syrupy while still getting the message across. Young basketball lovers will enjoy the veiled references to that game’s origins. Whitchurch’s painted illustrations are somewhat crude in style, but they’re varied and nicely composed.

A message book with a bit of mystery.

Pub Date: April 19, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-615-97740-9

Page Count: 34

Publisher: Time Tunnel Media

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

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BECAUSE I HAD A TEACHER

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.

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A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.

This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Compendium

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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