Where the Moon Lives

Several cutouts, foil embossing and a flap that lifts to disclose a duckling inside an egg increase the child appeal--and, apparently, the price--of Gantschev's (The Christmas Teddy Bear; Moon Lake) homiletic story. After the inquisitive duck hatches (curiously enough, from his father's nest), he asks a string of questions, among them, ""Where does the moon live?"" As readers turn the pages, circular cutouts of increasing size make a luminous foil moon grow larger as the duck swims toward it and to the island home of a wise swan. There he hopes to answer his question and also discover ""the secret of the moon's beauty."" The duckling concludes that the moon ""lives in all the sky"" and (this is the anticlimactic ""secret"") that it never stops sharing: ""When we see the moon go down, for someone else, the moon is rising."" With brilliant colors and abstract elements, Gantschev's watercolor art adds a dash of whimsy; otherwise, the shiny graphics notwithstanding, the tale lacks luster. Ages 5-8. (Apr.)