Moon Glowing [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Partridge (Author), Joan Paley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2002 | Age Level: 2 and up

The autumn leaves are twirling down. The squirrel is stashing, the bat swooping, the beaver building, and the big bear is feasting well. In this simple, rhythmic story, four quite different furry animals prepare resting places for the coming winter. Spare prose by award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge marks the progress of each animal and the final, quiet beauty of the forest's first snowfall. Joan Paley's colorful, textured collage art, playful yet tender, captures the wonder of the unfolding autumn season and the arrival of the silent winter. This warmly stylized vision of a changing forest and its four snug tenants is sure to become a favorite of young children.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this gloriously illustrated, economically paced volume, autumn arrives in a swirl of orange leaves and a blast of icy wind that ripples the water, and four animals-squirrel, bat, beaver and bear-end their frolicking and begin preparing for the long winter. (The final page offers easy-to-understand details on the four animals' winter habits.) Partridge's (Oranges on Golden Mountain) austere, almost poetic prose-often just a noun and verb per page-trace each animal's activities, always in the same order. Paley (The Emperor Lays an Egg) echoes the simplicity of the text, representing the animals' instinctive labors with collages of subtle, mesmerizing beauty. She animates the bold, neutral-colored shapes of the animals through intricate texturing. With a weave-like criss-crossing, she details the webby construction of the bat's wings as it readies for its upside-down hibernation ("bat scrambling"); with countless striations of black and gray, she draws readers into the thick, furry depths of the bear's coat as he readies his den and hunkers down ("Bear, big bear, digging deep"). Her backdrops, meanwhile, capture the sky changing from warm azure to chilly gradations of violet; on the final spread, the snow's ice crystals glitter with orange light from the glowing moon. As the animals cuddle up for their long sleep, Partridge chooses long vowel sounds for each of the four animals, emphasizing a soporific mood: "Nose tucking,/ wings folding,/ eyes closing./ Paws, big paws, wrapping round." This lovely, understated entry doubles as an ideal introduction to hibernation and a languorous entree to nighttime dreams. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-As autumn leaves fall, a squirrel, bat, beaver, and bear prepare for colder weather. When winter clouds roll in, all four seek shelter and then sleep as snow blankets their woodland home. This deceptively straightforward tale subtly conveys the concept of hibernation to a young audience-its urgency, its inevitability, and its cozy and somnolent warmth. Each animal is composed of basic cut-paper shapes given furry texture with mixed-media decoration. The forest backgrounds are simple but boldly colored. The repetitive pattern of the pared-down text with two to five words per page will engage young listeners while the well-chosen vocabulary and gentle lyricism will charm them. An appended brief description of how each of the four creatures hibernates will satisfy basic curiosity. A must purchase for the youngest naturalists, and a handsome and informative addition to winter-themed toddler storytimes.
Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1 edition (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525468730
• ISBN-13: 978-0525468738
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,178,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2-year old's favorite!, December 6, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon Glowing (Hardcover)

My 2-year old just LOVES this book. We have read it at least 3 or 4 times a day for the past 2 months. The pictures are beautiful and she has learned some of the more unusual words and loves to say them "nose tucking" and "bat scrambling" are 2 of her favorites, as is the "squirel peeking." We are buying this for all our <3 year old nephews and friends this year for Christmas.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, poetic bed-time book, June 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Moon Glowing (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully illustrated large-format book. The words are few, but they are great at lulling my very active toddler son toward sleep: he relaxes more and more as I show him the lush pages. Then at the end of the story, he asks me to read the [well-written] explanations of the animal's habits and preparation for wintertime. This book would make a wonderful gift for preschoolers.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for toddlers, February 5, 2009

By 

Busy Mom "LH" (Alameda, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon Glowing (Hardcover)

My 23-month-old son loves this book. I strongly recommend it for toddlers. The pictures are beautiful and the cadence of the story is one that he will sit still and listen to. This is the only book he wants to bring to bed with him at night.