The Moon's Revenge (Red Fox Picture Books) [Import] [Paperback]

JOAN AIKEN (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: RED FOX; New Ed edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099750104
• ISBN-13: 978-0099750109
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,891,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Aiken (1924-2004) was the daughter of Pulitzer prize winning poet Conrad Aiken and started writing herself from the age of five. During her lifetime she published over one hundred books for children and adults, including the acclaimed Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. In the UK she received an MBE from the Queen for her services to Children's Literature.

This year sees the publication of a brand NEW story collection - The Monkey's Wedding - with previously unpublished material that shows Aiken on top form. This collection of funny, spooky, unexpected but classic Aiken stories has received wonderful reviews and will delight her readers. See below for details.

Her work continues to be adapted for film and television; she is established as a consummate storyteller,and recognized as one of the best loved authors of the twentieth century.

"The Wonderful World of Joan Aiken" is at www.joanaiken.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Haunting, Evocative Book, May 31, 2003

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Moon's Revenge (Hardcover)

A collaboration between popular writer Joan Aiken and famous artist Alan Lee (best known for his Tolkien illustrations) - what more could you ask for? Aiken provides the story, based in old legends and folklore, and Lee works magic with his watercolours to create a deep and evocative atmosphere, while at the same time keeping a sense of realism to the tale.

Seppy is the seventh son of a seventh son in a family that makes carriages - but his only wish is to become a wonderful violinist like his grandfather. To find out how to succeed in this path, he goes one night to an abandoned house where bodiless voices are said to whisper to one another, and ask for their advice. They tell him that all he needs to do is throw a shoe at the moon each night for a week. Baffled, Seppy obeys, but finds that after marring the moon's beautiful white face with the marks of his shoes, it imposes on him a terrible revenge: in return for success as a fiddler, he must go barefoot for seven years, his sister will never speak a word, and he and his family will be in terrible danger.

Sure enough, any shoe that is placed on Seppy's feet instantly falls apart, his new-born sister Octavia never utters a word, and the portents begin brewing that something terrible is on its way... But throughout all this Seppy's talent as a violinist grows to magical proportions, and his skill with his new violin (given to him through ghostly means) may just hold the key to protecting not only his family, but the entire seaport he lives in.

If there is a fault in this tale, it is that Joan Aiken emcompasses too many strands of plot into what should be a more simple folktale. As it is, one is never quite clear what is the main story line - is it the Moon's curse? Seppy's musical development? The threat of the sea monster? As well as this, several small enigmas presented in the story are never completely unwound, and though some - like the formless voices in the abandoned house - are best left mysteries, other just make it seem as if the book has drifted to an incomplete ending. For instance, how and why does Octavia begin to speak? Why does the monster shrink? How do the shoes get back in the clock?

But despite these confusions, the stunning illustrations of Alan Lee more than make up for them; he is the only artist to my knowledge that can make a dancing sea serpent in giant shoes look completely realistic. He invokes the moorlands and the seaport perfectly, either by day or under the ghostly light of the moon, and any complaints over the story are swept away by the mysterious mood of the watercolours - ghostly kings, crashing waves, mist-shrouded beaches, craggy rocks, and of course the seaweed covered sea serpent are all completely convincing and provocative. Lee captures movement, scenery, action, stillness and otherworldliness perfectly, and any fans of his work will not be disappointed with his illustrations here.

So even though the move from the haunting, murky atmosphere of the first half of the book doesn't quite match the cartoonish feel of a dancing sea monster at its conclusion, the prose is strong enough, and the illustrations beautiful enough, to make this book a treasure for the bookshelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still my Favourite at 23, November 20, 2003

By 

Mel (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moon's Revenge (Hardcover)

I was given this book as a present for my 8th birthday (apprx) and now at 23 years of age living away from home I still have it with me. I was and still am, fascinated by the drawings and the story. I have never heard of this story/fable since and no one i have talked to has either, so i feel quite privilleged to have a copy of it.

5.0 out of 5 stars 3rd Grader says "Must Buy", November 2, 2007

By 

Ladybug "B" (Vancouver, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE MOON'S REVENGE (Hardcover)

My third grader came home from school talking about this book and said mom "you really, really, REALLY need to buy this book. It is a heartwarming story and is very mysterious (mysterious is good)"