My Little Half-Moon

March 27, 2017
A boy sees a half-moon hanging in the sky and assumes “he” must be pining for his other half: “No one to glow with and everyone knowing/ How sad is the face that the half a moon’s showing.” So the boy begins a combination vigil/intervention, camping out in his backyard to keep the moon company, attempting to lighten the mood with an extended show and tell, and even offering a pep talk (“I told him without him, the world would be dim,/ How tides in the ocean were all ’cause of him”). One night, finally, the moon is full. Not only have the boy’s efforts worked—in his opinion, at least—but he’s found his own other “half”: a girl who has been admiring him from afar. Debut author Jennerich has written a heartfelt tribute to the power of empathy, but his literal-minded quatrains don’t wear well. Although Berube’s (Hannah and Sugar) blue-green palette provides lovely nocturnal atmosphere, it’s not enough to counter a text that quickly turns cloying. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Company. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Kilkelly, Rodeen Literary Management.

March 1, 2017
A child's fascination (and frustration) with a seemingly lonely, incomplete half-moon leads to a lunar surprise and friendship. The unnamed child narrator of this series of rhyming couplets has decided that the half-moon can't be happy. The bear-suit-clad white child first offers gifts to impress it, then yells up in anger at its indifference, trying to explain to it the wonder of being the moon. Some of it is lovely (the moon is "the reason that dogs and wolves howl"), other bits not so much, the result of trying to shoehorn words such as "balk" and "fondue" into the rhyme scheme. In parts, the story gets into the narrator's mind, but in sum, it seems like a story that doesn't know if it wants to be a wacky escalation of the things the child will do to get the half-moon's attention or a simple meditation on its stunning beauty when it appears in full. The illustrations, with deep blues, greens, and blacks against a simple, chalky yellow moon, split the difference, acting as a moody but appropriately wistful accompaniment to the sometimes-draggy text. They also introduce a subtextual story in the form of a bunny-suit-clad child of color who watches the narrator's antics and eventually offers friendship. Like the text, it is sweet but also feels forced. For caregivers of kids with brief, harmless fixations the story will ring true--but for little readers, some real nighttime moon spotting may be even better. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.