BY THE LIGHT OF THE CAPTURED MOON
Julian Scheer, BY THE LIGHT OF THE CAPTURED MOON
Despite its appealing cover illustration showing children and fireflies, Scheer's (Rain Makes Applesauce ) ethereal story may be more appropriate to more sophisticated picture book readers. Beginning with a diffuse, novelistic description of Billy and his friends catching lightning bugs, the book doesn't introduce a dramatic conflict until nearly halfway through, at which point 10-year-old Billy wishes he could capture the moon and "put it away and take it out" whenever he likes. Even though Billy knows "the moon [is] thousands of miles away, moving in its orbit, silently creeping westward," he stretches out his arms "farther and farther and soon they [touch] the moon—the real moon." Surprisingly, Billy manages to pull the real moon into his bedroom. But when he is unable to hide its light, he pushes the moon out the window. It rolls "over a hill and out of sight," leaving a trail that baffles his parents the next morning. The complicated syntax and occasionally overlong sentences may pose a challenge for some readers, but Himler's (The Log Cabin Quilt ) watercolors are especially pleasing, conveying the luminescence of the fireflies and the moon's gleaming light as suitably magical. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 02/26/2001
Genre: Children's
Despite its appealing cover illustration showing children and fireflies, Scheer's (
Reviewed on: 02/26/2001
Genre: Children's
