Full Moon Lore

February 15, 2017
Each month of the year is represented by a full moon, one of its nicknames in the Northern Hemisphere, and some notes about seasonal changes during that month."Let me tell you a story about the moon. That bright, round moon up there is called a Full Moon....People long ago kept track of the seasons by giving each full moon a special name." A man with light-brown skin sits with a small, dark-haired, even lighter-skinned girl in his lap, open book before them. Behind them, a stylized version of a moonlit night sets the stage for more pages of full moons. The illustrations use strong, dark lines filled in with high-contrast blocks of color. A cursory glance invites a second look; a second look brings a discomfiting sense of the uncanny, as animals, plants, and humans are generally depicted in that nether world between realism and fantasy. A double-page spread of children gathering berries by moonlight is particularly eerie. The text is also a garbled mix of poetic imagery and snippets of natural science: "Thunder and lightning storms roll through the plains, providing strength for the farmer's crops to grow." What does that mean? Most pages keep the full moon gender-free, but it is given a male pronoun during April--as is November's hardworking beaver. Most problematic of all is that there is no information about the "people long ago" or the culture or cultures from which these various names originated. Trite text and overworked art detract from an interesting concept. (Picture book. 5-7)

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August 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-This picture book takes readers through a calendar year of full moons. A cursory introduction explains, "People long ago kept track of the seasons by giving each full moon a special name." Each month's unique moon is identified, from January's Wolf Moon, to June's Strawberry Moon, to December's Cold Moon, and closing with the additional Blue Moon. The lyrical text briefly explores the lunar lore behind the names: as April's Pink Moon heralds the arrival of spring blossoms, "It was believed that the moon used his hand to sprinkle the ground with seeds." Stewart's full-page realistic illustrations capture many atmospheric details of the changing seasons and the resulting effect on wildlife. November's spread depicts the Hunter Moon illuminating ploughed fields full of rolled bales of hay as an owl and a fox search for food in the foreground. An end page includes nine assorted scientific facts about the moon, as well as a summary list of the full moon names noted. However, there are no source notes as to the cultural origins of the names selected. VERDICT This poetic treatment works best as a general introduction to the topic.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ont.

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