cover image Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story

Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story

Lisa Desimini. Scholastic Reference, $16.95 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-590-18720-6

Desimini's (My House) surreal mixed-media images light up a larger-than-life romance. Living on opposite sides of a planet, a lonely giantess (""Her feet were on the ground and her head was in the heavens"") and a lonely giant (""His feet were on the ground and his head was in the clouds"") wander the globe, each looking for someone the same size. She searches by night, following the moon; he searches by day, following the sun; and it takes an eclipse to bring the two together. This familiar-seeming tale of love sought and found is spun out in a series of sophisticated illustrations. Blending paintings, photographs, fresh fruit and even Desimini's own hair, these computer-assisted images continually surprise readers with unexpected juxtapositions and an arrestingly off-center balance of visual elements. One illustration, for example, shows the boy asleep, his Gulliver-size body prone amid broccoli-like trees, a flock of birds cloaking him for warmth. Conjuring a haunting alternative world, these startling pictures bespeak an original artistic vision. Ages 4-up. (Feb.)