cover image Boy Who Ate the Moon

Boy Who Ate the Moon

Christopher King. Philomel Books, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-399-21459-2

One night, when a boy finds that the moon is stuck in an old crow's nest in Grandaddy Maple, he knows that only he can save it. The animals warn him that he might not return, but the boy clambers into the branches anyway. When he touches his fingers to the moon's surface and then brings his hands to his lips, he tastes a sweetness more delectable than anything he has dreamed of. He eats the entire moon and then floats freely into the air, finding himself soaring above mountains and cities, apparently at random, apparently never to return home. Then the ``boymoon'' discovers that he can control his direction and is home in time for sunrise. Manifested in Wallner's spellbinding nocturnal landscapes, the story relies more on poetic than logical expression, with the same jumps and sudden endings found in dream states. Readers will easily accept those qualities, given the sweetly stirring combination of watercolors and language. Ages 3-7. (Oct . )