Ungar makes an impressive debut in this reworking of a Samuel Tenenbaum story about the profoundly silly people of Chelm. Like Mole in Bringing Down the Moon
(reviewed above), the inhabitants of the mythical village are so beguiled by the moon's "wondrous light" that they decide to capture it, "so we will all be able to gaze upon the moon at any time, day or night." Simon the Carpenter tries to build a ladder to it; Selma the Cook, Rafael the Musician and Sarah the Weaver try to tempt the moon down to earth with their respective talents. But only young Rachel is successful—to the Chelmites' skewed way of thinking, at least—when she captures the moon's reflection in a rain barrel. With dense, jewel-toned watercolors and colored-pencil illustrations, and characterizations and perspectives reminiscent of Chagall and other Jewish visual folklorists, Ungar swiftly and affectionately transports readers to a mythical, long-ago world. Ages 7-10. (Nov.)
