In this episodic fantasy, the moon topples from his perch and lands in a farmer's lawn: "The rye smelled sweet,/ The night winds whirled,/ Circling Moon in a misty wreath,/ And he beamed in awe/ At this wondrous world / The stars above and earth/ beneath." Wearing cowboy boots and a zippered sweater on the torso and limbs that support him, Moon meets a cow who accompanies him to town. Moon is entranced by a blinking sign, while Cow "poke[s] around the milkman's cart." Their adventures come to an abrupt halt the next morning, when he orders them back where they belong. The late Smith's rhyme is lilting and soothing, while Brown's watercolors are agreeably inviting. But in their adherence to a uniform perspective, they underserve one of the themes the pleasure of seeing a familiar object from a new angle. Moon is an eager observer: "He'd never seen the trunks of trees/ Or blades below the farmer's plow./ Moon didn't know a horse had knees,/ But things were strangely sideways now." Reminiscent of both e.e. cummings and "Hey Diddle Diddle," Smith's rhythms and phrasing create a fanciful entertainment for bedtime fun. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-This whimsical story captures an evening when Moon inexplicably falls to Earth and explores the environs of a small town in the company of an endearing cow. They explore until dawn, when the farmer sends both back to their rightful places. Gently humorous touches, such as Cow and Moon admiring the perfect half-moon slices of cheese displayed in a shop, Moon falling in love with a blinking sign, and his delight in seeing the world sideways and close-up instead of from above, are fresh and light. However, the rhyming text does not always scan, some lines work pretty hard to keep both meaning and meter in mind, and the farmer's scolding of the two friends at the end conflicts with the quiet theme of the rewards of seeing things from a different point of view. Still, Brown's watercolor illustrations glow with Moon's reflected light and shapes swirl across the page and around the nighttime action while the palette lightens as morning approaches. Youngsters may see nighttime in a new light.
Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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