Faces of the Moon

With gentle interactive elements and rhymed verse, this picture book strikes a reflective tone while providing an effective lesson on the moon and its phases. A boy, a girl and a dog gaze up at the moon and wonder “just why her face is curved, or round,/ or why she sometimes can't be found?” During each of the moon's phases, the children are pictured engaging in various activities while the moon shines above them, peeking through die-cut pages: “Now WAXING GIBBOUS, fat with light,/ she's nearly round—up late at night.” The pages also have side tabs that show the moon in its corresponding phases. Evans's bright, chunky linoleum block print and watercolor illustrations present the moon as a constant presence in the children's lives, sometimes as a pale backdrop for everyday events, at other times a source of wonderment. Ages 6–9. (July)