The Moon Remembers

Goodale (Good Night, Little Bookstore) develops a single insight gradually in this satisfying nighttime story with a tender heart. “When a baby is born, the moon is there./ The moon remembers,” begin lines that speak at once to the new and the ancient. In an opening vignette, an infant portrayed with brown skin lies on their back, sucking a finger, while the smiling pale moon gazes down. The lens grows temporally wider as the pages turn: “When your mama was a baby,/ when your daddy was a baby,// when your pet cricket was a baby—// the moon remembers.” In addition to people and pets, the moon recalls “each bunny,// every owl// all the squirrels/ and newts,” and even green growing things, including “each tiny tomato.” The moon, readers realize at last, has been around for the birth and growth of every living thing since life began. Now the book’s lens returns to the child, offering a vision of the moon not only as witness (“the moon will remember you,/ perfect you”), but as unchanging presence and grounding force. It’s a story reassuring in its simplicity and lulling in its tone, with visual ties to the expanse of the natural world. Ages 4–8. Agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary. (May)