The Moon is Going to Addy's House by Ida Pearle

The amazing Ida Pearle has another adorable book!

The simplicity of the plot, a little girl observing the moon following from a playdate to her house, allows readers to really sink into the illustrations. With a full, overblown moon hanging around, it is pretty easy to fall into them. 

Time to go home!

Meeting daddy. I love the enthusiasm!

Those braids!!

Watching the moon.

Hair blowing in the wind.

Oh my goodness! So much to love here.

After her bath, Ida goes out to bathe in moonlight.

The lighting was a little off, so just know that Ida makes it look way better than this! 

The Eyes of Gray Wolf by Jonathan London & Illus by Jon Van Zyle

This is another book I found in the Loussac Library in Anchorage this summer. And since there is a love interest, I figured it would be a good book for Valentine's week.

Jon Van Zyle has been the official artist of the Iditarod since 1979, so he is pretty well experienced in drawing Alaskan landscapes and dogs. The storyline itself is pretty straightforward. I mean, it is about wolves, so it is a little difficult to get in depth with characterization. 

However, the pictures make this a stand out. 

Grey Wolf is a little preoccupied. He has lost his mate to a man's steel trap.

oooh! I just love his art work. And poor old Grey wolf all alone under a super moon apparently. 

Howling at the moon-- A wild untamed music.

Trying to catch dinner, but....

Shadows show that he is not alone.

The leader of the pack. AND his fur is black. I guess the black sheep is the one with the reputation, but a black wolf seems like a tough character. 

And suddenly, grey wolf sees a white wolf. A white wolf who just happens to be looking for a mate. 

When you are a wolf, dating isn't really a thing. You're single? Me too! Let's get together. 

Wolves don't mess around with superfluous nonsense. 

At the end of the book there is a page with information about wolves. This is the decreasing wolf range. Clearly wolves didn't like American settlers and all moved north. Or something....

Moon Song by Mildred Plew Miegs & Illus by Garth Williams

Moon Song

Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--             

Over the crinkling sea,

The moon man flings him a silvered net  

Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say when the net lies long

And the midnight hour is ripe;

The moon man fishes for some old song   

That fell from a sailor's pipe. 

And some folks say that he fishes the bars

Down where the dead ships lie,

Looking for lost little baby stars               

That slid from the slippery sky. 

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in

And the nodding night wind blows,

But why the moon man fishes the sea          

Only the moon man knows. 

                                                                         --Mildred Plew Miegs

                                                                                                   From: The Tall Book of Fairy Tales

Halloween by Ivy Eastwick & Illus by Hilary Knight

Halloween

The sky was yellow,

 the moon was green,

     and the little old Witch

whispered:              

"Halloween!"            

and, at the word,     

from an ivied tower

thirteen black bats   

  in a black bat shower 

    came fluttering through

 the pea green gloom  

 and rested there         

          on the WITCH'S BROOM!

    (And a Witch's Broom--

pray not forget--        

   is a million times faster

than any JET!)           

        So they went to the moon, 

  and they circled about, 

              then they swept and they swept

 till they swept it out;    

  they swept up the moon

        and they made their flight--

THERE AND BACK  

in a single night.        

                                           --Ivy O. Eastwick

(From Side by Side by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Illus by Hilary Knight)

Bird Watcher by Jane Yolen & illus by Ted Lewin

Who loves Canadian Geese? This girl. I adore them.

 

Bird Watcher

 

Across the earless

face of the moon

a stretch of Vs

honks homeward.

From the lake

laughs the last joke

of a solitary loon.

Winter silences us all.

I will miss

these conversations,

the trips at dawn

and dusk,

where I listen carefully,

then answer

only with my eyes.

Crabapple Night by Jan Wahl & Illus by Steven Kellogg

 

This is a book I remember from my childhood. I have never quite understood it. Some neighborhood kids are mean to a grouchy old woman. Their dog gets sick and dies, they assume she did it, things escalate.

 

At the end, everyone is a happy, friendly neighbor. Pretty basic storyline. But the dog poisoning and gun play make this is a little... dark.

Ms. Louella Fink's gothic house. It is just begging for misinterpretation.

Louella Fink's husband disappeared. There are all kinds of wild stories about what happened to him. But the kids know she poisoned him and got rid of the evidence.

Louella Fink is just weird. I mean she dances in the garden in the moonlight. Kids don't tolerate those kind of shenanigans from adults who should know better.

When their dog, Ambrose, is found dead, they know exactly who to blame. They give her a dead rat.

And try to scare her. And generally make her life miserable.

Things get out of hand.

At times, the kids wonder if maybe they aren't going a little too far. But.... she did poison their dog, after all.

They decide to steal her crabapples. And are nearly scared out of their wits by the scarecrow.

But in the end, everyone is happy and friendly.

Hannah's Night by Komako Sakai

I have a new policy of not putting up way too many pictures per book. But it was hard with this book. It is just so gorgeous.

Komako Sakai is quite popular and well known in Japan, but this is the first of her books I have seen. Clearly I need to catch up!

This perfectly adorable little Hannah wakes up...

...to find it was still night.

Her sister wouldn't wake up.

So Hannah and Shiro went to have a pee.

Elsie loves this page. Pee! giggle, giggle.

Her parents were still sleeping.

So Hannah went to explore independence by eating cherries. 

Isn't she ridiculously cute, squatting there eat her cherry?

The moon.

Since her sister was sleeping, Hannah borrowed her doll.

And a few other prized possessions and took them back to bed with her.

Hannah couldn't help giggling because her sister didn't even notice.

Oh the delight of forbidden things!

Morning pigeon

And as the sky lightened...

...Hannah fell asleep.

Clover says there should be a sequel to this book called Sister's Morning, in which the sister discovers her prized possessions in Hannah's bed and has a fit. But we all know how that story goes, so it isn't strictly necessary.

At Night by Jonathan Bean

This is a simple little book about summer nights. 

I love Jonathan Bean.  

Do you see that little reader? Little readers are always adorable. 

Putting the kids to bed. 

But not to sleep. Those summer nights when you just can't sleep. Maybe it is too hot or stuffy. Or too summery and moonshine-y. 

The sounds of other people sleeping...

...makes your own unsleeping all the more pronounced.

But then she felt a breeze...

..and followed it.

I love her mother waking up and being aware of what is going on, but not interrupting. 

The illusion of independence is so important to kids. They think they are doing it all alone, but parents are right there in the background, being aware, and ready to step in if things get to be too much.

The breeze led to the rooftop.

The rooftop in the city...

...in the world.

She looked up, breathed, closed her eyes...

and slept.