Come Back, Moon

When a group of forest animals discovers that Bear has stolen the moon—he blames its bright light for his insomnia—they hatch a plan to get it back. As Crow lulls Bear to sleep with a story, Fox, the group’s leader, spots something glowing in Bear’s pillowcase. “Quickly, Fox and Crow grabbed the pillow bag and set the moon free,” writes Kherdian. “And all the animals cheered and danced under the light of the moon.” (Bear blissfully sleeps through it all.) Along with the elegant economy of its language and the quiet beauty of Hogrogian’s watercolors, which are gently textured with pencil, one of the most striking aspects of this ostensibly simple reverie of a story is how much its creators, a highly honored husband-and-wife team, trust readers. They don’t amplify the prose or pictures with visual signposts or adjectives to tell audiences what to feel (the late Elmore Leonard would have been proud). Instead, they let their spare, deeply resonant storytelling reveal the quiet, instinctive determination of the animals to set things right. The action is low-key, almost tableau-like, and never less than compelling. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)