City Moon
by Rachael Cole
illustrated by Blanca Gómez
Schwartz & Wade Books, 2017. 36 pages.
Starred Review
Such a lovely book! I love the simple way it celebrates that it gets dark early in the fall. Here’s how it begins:
In the fall,
when leaves are coming down,
it gets dark before we go to bed.After dinner,
after tooth-brushing time,
we put on pajamas,
then coats and shoes.We take keys,
and bang the big front door
behind us.It’s evening. It’s night.
We are going on a walk
to look for the moon.
The illustrations show a busy city, with people doing things in their apartments and other walking on the sidewalk. The child asks questions, and the mother answers. The moon hides behind buildings and clouds. They see stars (which are not little moons) and a reflection of the moon. The child learns about those things and that there is only one moon, even though it looks like it’s in a different place.
It’s all simple and lovely as a walk with a mother and small child.
I liked this page:
“Mama, why doesn’t everyone look?”
“They’re busy,” Mama tells me.
“Walking and riding bikes home
and cooking dinner
and putting children to bed.”
This book makes me want to go look for the moon. And I will do so with new eyes. Best of all, it gives me a whole new perspective on getting home from work when it’s already dark. That doesn’t have to be an annoyance.
And like all good bedtime books, it ends with a child asleep in bed, the moon shining down.
rachaelcole.net
cosasminimas.com
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