Moon Dreams

A consummate bedtime read, Martin's story circles around a single question: "Where," a moon-obsessed girl named Luna wonders, "does the Moon go all day?" Martin's prose dwells on soothing, soporific imagery ("Perhaps the Moon slips softly into the ocean during the day") and slips in lots of sound words ("Whoosh... wash, whoosh... wash went the waves"), while Latyk's spreads show Luna on dreamy excursions underwater in a bulgy little bathysphere, a balloon journey over snow-capped mountains, and a rocket trip that leads her all the way to the Moon. Martin, an editor at Templar, wrote this book as a vehicle for the work of French artist Latyk. His retro spreads feature the flat, graphic figures and slick surfaces of '60s commercial art, but his palette of Prussian blue, robin's egg, and pale orange softens the mix, while the eerie moonlight that bathes objects in its reflected glow adds depth. "I'm always here in space, watching over you," the Moon tells Luna fondly. It's just the thing for a read-aloud after a long, busy day. Ages 4–7. (Aug.)