★★★★
Casting her light through an open window,
she captured the heart of a lonely boy.
One night, all of the lights of the neighborhood went out – completely out – and a little boy looked out the window.
And he saw the moon in a way he never saw her before.
Immediately, he knows he has to win her over – so he tries giving her materialistic gifts…then magical gifts…
But the moon, unimpressed with
his gift, gently rejected the boy.
The boy becomes absolutely crushed…but determined to keep trying.
…anyone else would have given up.
But not the boy.
Will he convince the moon to fall in love with him? Or will he be lonely forever?
Right off the bat – I absolutely loved the artwork for this one – simply stunning!
The use of color and line truly made this book stand out.
I just want to go through it one more time (yes. I am twenty-six years old and yes, I am in love with children’s books).
I really liked the story-telling style. It had such an old-timey feel to the words and it definitely has great pacing for this bedtime story.
I also liked how there were several interpretations of the book.
One could be that the boy kept giving the moon things until she gave in (which as some reviewers have pointed out, may be a little problematic for young’ens – just keep throwing presents at her and she’ll like you!)
Another is that materialistic things are not important.
The boy never truly captures the moon’s heart until he brings her out of the darkness and into a whole new world (this one I like – sending the message that giving presents (not matter how magical) isn’t what makes someone love you).
And another is that persistence is what you need to succeed.
The boy faces rejection after rejection but realizes that in order to win over the moon, he needs to be stronger and more resilient himself (as you can tell from him going from simple gifts to fighting dragons).
I like how this book doesn’t have a concrete interpretation (though if your child is leaning towards option 1, maybe talk about other meanings?) and honestly, the pictures have me going back to it again and again.
With thanks to the author and Familius for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Interested in this one from Rino Alaimo? Buy it here: Amazon
Miranda Reads 