Little Fox and the Missing Moon

December 15, 2018
A quiet mystery for bedtime that shines in its simplicity.It's spring-cleaning time, when everyone is hard at work. Little Fox, who loves mysteries and fancies himself a detective, polishes his Detecting Magnifying Glass as he dusts, so he's ready when a bad dream tells him the moon has been devoured by monsters! Sure enough, when he opens his eyes, the moon is gone. Out he goes into the nighttime woods to search for the missing moon, joined by nocturnal friends Owl, Wolf, and Bear. When they go to invite diurnal Rabbit to join their expedition, they discover him in his house, up to his armpits in soap suds, busily washing the moon! A 90-degree turn shows the friends returning the moon to the sky in a vertical illustration to demonstrate its distance. Trukhan's bold colors, attention to open space and object placement, and compelling use of geometric shapes evoke the bright village by day and the gently spooky woods by night in an appealing, retro graphic style. Inky, dark endpapers feature charmingly drawn white stars, setting the stage for the story. The understated gender bend in this picture book presents male characters busily cleaning, offering young children an alternative to traditional roles.Perfect for young sleuths with active imaginations who want to solve one more mystery before bedtime. (Picture book. 3-7)

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August 23, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-The animal detective who was introduced in Apples for Little Fox dusts off his favorite mystery books and polishes his magnifying glass to get ready to solve his next case. In this second installment, Fox goes on a mission to find a lost moon with the help of some friends. When they approach Rabbit's house, Fox discovers the sliver of that moon being washed to a shine in Rabbit's sink. The job is completed when he places the moon back in the sky where it rightfully belongs. Trukhan's first-level mystery is about as rudimentary as her simple, yet boldly impressive illustrations. While Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's Nate the Great solves true-to-life cases, Fox's cases are preposterously fictional. The silliness of the premise, along with the lighthearted element of solving a basic mystery, is ideal for preschoolers first being exposed to this genre. The stark, bold geometric angle of Fox's flashlight beaming in the dark-and across the next page-is as striking as the small, circular eyes peering out at him. The underlying message about teamwork is an equally noteworthy message. VERDICT A surefire storytime hit that should entice young children to solve the quest alongside Fox and his friends.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY

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