The Man in the Moon (Guardians of Childhood, The) [Hardcover]

William Joyce (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2011 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years | Series: Guardians of Childhood, The (Book 1) | Lexile Measure: 830L (What's this?)

Up there in the sky.

Don’t you see him?

No, not the moon.

The Man in the Moon.

He wasn’t always a man.

Nor was he always on the moon.

He was once a child.

Like you.

Until a battle,

a shooting star,

and a lost balloon

sent him on a quest.

Meet the very first guardian of childhood.

MiM, the Man in the Moon.

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442430419
• ISBN-13: 978-1442430419
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, September 2011: Twenty years in the making, William Joyce’s enchanting new picture book, The Man in the Moon, is worth the wait. In the first of his new Guardians of Childhood series, Joyce introduces the original guardian, MiM, the Man in the Moon. In glorious, colorful detail, readers are invited to imagine the Earth’s moon as a space age shipwreck, and the origin of bad dreams as the work of Pitch, King of the Nightmares. MiM’s fondest memories are of his devoted friend Nightlight, who sprinkled him with Dreamsand as an infant, and it is Nightlight who inspires MiM to become guardian to the hopes and dreams of all the children of Earth, but of course MiM will need help--from a toymaker, a fairy, a rabbit, and others like them. The Man in the Moon captures the wonder of childhood in a visual masterpiece that is to be treasured by readers of all ages. --Seira Wilson

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Illustrations from The Man in the Moon
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Balloons lost on earth often floated up to the moon, carrying the hopes and dreams of the children who lost them.

“As a baby, the Man in the Moon had everything a child could need.”

The Guardians of Childhood

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Review

"A fabulous recapturing of an old, real fairytale world. Dark. Mysterious. Stunning! " --MAURICE SENDAK, Caldecott-winning creator of Where the Wild Things Are

"William Joyce, to put it simply, is a genius, and we are lucky to have another book from him. The Man in the Moon is filled with tenderness, love, and enchantment. It's an unforgettable story that will leave readers wanting more...and luckily there IS more, because The Man in the Moon is just the first in the Guardian's of Childhood series, which will, I predict, take their rightful places in the hearts of children everywhere." --BRIAN SELZNICK, author/illustrator of the Caldecott-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret

"Each of William Joyce's books has been more beautifully painted, more magically imagined and more deliciously written than the one that came before. The Man in the Moon is the latest dazzling masterpiece, the one we Joyceans, young and old, have been pining for. It instantly became my children's favorite book." --MICHAEL CHABON, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442430419
• ISBN-13: 978-1442430419
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations

More About the Author

A true luminary and creative spirit, William Joyce has put his personal stamp on children's media in every direction. His picture books include George Shrinks, Dinosaur Bob and Santa Calls; he's won three Emmy awards for his Rolie Polie Olie animated series; developed character concepts for Toy Story and A Bug's Life; and his films include Robots and Meet the Robinsons. He's currently co-directing The Guardians for DREAMWORKS, and is producing The Leaf Men, based on his picturebook. He lives in Shreveport, LA, and is the founder of Moonbot Studios.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have! September 15, 2011

By Mundie Moms/Mundie Kids

Format:Hardcover

What a fabulous, beautifully illustrated book that tells a unique story about the man in the moon. This is one of those books that reads like a movie you'd want to take your kids to see. I'm not sure what I was drawn more towards, the absolutely amazing artwork or the fantastic story.

Have you ever wondered who or what lived on the moon? William Joyce's debut The Man in The Moon not only introduces to the jolly man who lives there (nope I'm not talking Santa Claus), he'll also tell you how he got there. We're huge fans of the moon in our home, and I can say for certainty that next time we're looking up at the moon, we'll all be looking for the wonderful man in the moon, the guardian of children.

This book is a beautiful, creative story that will allow your children's imaginations to soar. I'm definitely not a kid, and this book appealed to my inner child. I thoroughly enjoyed being whisked away in this whimsical story. This is a book I'd highly recommend adding to your personal library collection or school libraries.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking September 27, 2011

By St. Louis Illini

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We own hundreds of kid's books. This is hands down the most beautifully illustrated of them all. And what a very, very cool concept--the origin myth of the man on the moon? Awesome! This is a picture book, but it is very long and involved. Definitely for kiddos a little older. I bought this for my child, but honestly may just keep it for myself. It's amazing.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply wonderful September 15, 2011

By Ria J. Hall

Format:Hardcover

I just picked this book up today on a whim and I have to say it's one of the most wonderful bedtime books I have ever read for my boys. The artwork wowed Us and the story comes to life as each page is turned. If You have kids or not , You need this on your bookshelf.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Man in the Moon October 2, 2011

By Alex Erkiletian

Format:Hardcover

Wonderful! My four-year old just adores this story and gets lost in all of the beautiful illustrations. We have been blessed with the birth of our son a little less than two weeks ago so I have had my hands full. Having story time with my son before bed has been a sacred little ritual we share and this book has been sublime for us both. I love how excited he gets to read the Man in the Moon and how he loves to retell the tale after we have finished. This book has elevated story time into a truely magical and imaginative experience. I can't say enough. This book, and "Oh, The Places You'll Go" are my all time favorites.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful September 9, 2011

By Sage B.

Format:Hardcover

I saw this book at the bookstore what first caught me was the name of the book...The man in the moon. Once I opened the book the artwork took over me. It's beautiful. The story is amazing. I love everything about it. Upon showing it to two friends they said it reminded them a little of Steam Punk...which got me to thinking, this would be the perfect baby shower gift for my future niece/nephew due in March, since my brother is a huge fan of Steam Punk. Beautiful book!! Can't wait to see more of the series!!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Relief and delight! a NEW William Joyce in my hot little hands! October 30, 2011

By Beth E. Williams VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I envy any child (or adult) for whom this new book is their first glimpse of the utterly charming, tender and visually luscious imagination that is William Joyce. The first week it came out I dashed home with my copy, I would have thrown rubies and diamonds at the cashier to possess any NEW book by Joyce! A NEW one! Yes, and it is everything I remember with such deep feeling as I had, and have, for his earlier George Shrinks, Dinosaur Bob, A Day with Will Robinson, Santa Calls, The Leaf Men, and The World of William Joyce: a Scrapbook ('97).

Joyce was and remains an unusual storyteller, his vivid drawing and color notwithstanding, there is an almost startling simplicity to his writing, no artifice whatsoever, and the images literally create a complementary, even parallel, story which can be "read" by anyone, without language to get in the way. I found my first Joyce, like so many others, with George Shrinks, which I had brought home for my toddler, and found that I became proprietarial about it! No crayons or smudgy fingers for this book! From that time on I have bought two copies of each title I am able to get my hands on, one for the child (and now grandson) to peruse and make their own (literally) and one for me! Of all the stories he has published to date The Man in the Moon has brought me as close to tears as his lovely Leaf Men - which I still can't read without choking up....

For those who collect fine illustration and children's illustrated books William Joyce will not be a new name, and I personally rank him alongisde such titans as NC Wyeth, Kay Nielsen, Howard Pyle, the Petershams, EH Shepard, Maurice Boutet de Monvel, Edmund Dulac, Walter Creane, Arthur Rackham and certainly Maxfield Parrish - and for those who love this genre, look into some of the modern greats (to me anyway) like Graham Oakley, Jerry Pinckney, Pauline Baynes, Gennady Spirin, Sebastian Meschenmoser, Helen Cooper, Rob Scotton, Christopher Denise to name but a choice few.

It has been said that for many people Disneyworld is the childhood that they never had but a book such as Man in the Moon, or anything by Joyce, is quite different - it becomes the childhood you are able to have, as a child, (and as an even "larger" child!) with him, with his characters, with the lush, fantastic, endearing, environments that we share with these wonderful friends, MiM, being the latest one. I am beyond delighted, and I hope he follows up with a continuation using his adorable Moonmice. At times MiM reminded me of Winston Churchill (from the back!)and it certainly references his earlier friends, Santa, the various bugs, mechanical novelties, and the even the ever present couple who are a delightful reincarnation of the suave and aimiable Nick and Nora Charles.

Joyce has a relentless imagination, not unlike Tim Burton, but without the queasy edges (think Waiting Room for the Recently Dead scene from Beetlejuice, for just one example). I can't really say he is "like" anyone else, and that is quite a testament to his own vision made ours. Buy twenty of these new Man in the Moon, and give them out to any child you know, regardless their age, for no other reason than a real childhood, even a late childhood, is always better than one we have to pretend that we had! Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful October 20, 2011

By P. Smith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bought this for my first-grader for this-coming Christmas and it arrived yesterday. I couldn't wait and read it right away. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the story was amazing. It was a little scary with the Nightmare Prince, Pitch, but just scary enough to give it a great tone of adventure and excitement. I love the way the book seems to blend fairy tale and fantasy. The pleasant, protective images it leaves with children (and even some adults) is also wonderful.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for little kids December 12, 2011

By Marike L. Owen

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book for my son who loves Mr Joyce's other books, and the pictures are amazing but the story where a little boy loses his parents and is abandoned on the moon is pretty scary for little kids. Especially if your kid already has nightmares like mine. So I am re-gifting this to an older child.