by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 06, 2010   Last Updated: May 30, 2012

The first page reminds me of "Goodnight, Moon," and it could almost be described as a sequel. There's a little girl kneeling beside his bed in a nursery, as the text describes things in the room. "Somewhere a pair of shoes lies under a chair," writes Kate Banks, and "A window yawns open," while twilight "blazes a trail across the wall." But then she leaves the nursery behind, to describe what the moon had seen during the night.

"[I]f the moon could talk, it would tell of evening
stealing through the woods and a lizard scurrying home to supper."

Turn the page, and the story is back to the little girl, noticing a family member humming quietly in the hallway of his house. ("A clock ticks. A light flicks on.") But turn the page again, and the story is far, far away. "[I]f the moon could talk, it would tell of stars flaring up one by one and a small fire burning by a tree."

The text is very poetic, though it doesn't rhyme. (Small print on the book's title page says the book was originally published in France - presumably in French.) The grand tone of the words matches the high artistry of the book's illustrations, which were contributed by French painter Georg Hallensleben. He uses simple shapes filled with intense, bright colors, and some of the illustrations actually remind me of Van Gogh.

When the girl sits on her father's lap, he's wearing a bright yellow sweater reading a book about camels. ("A story unfolds like a banner wandering across the sky," writes Banks.) Turn the page, and there's an illustration of the desert under a full yellow moon. There's a line of silhouetted camels coming up a blue line representing a shadowy desert trail, towards two red tents and three nomads who are crouching in the dunes.

And on the next page, the little girl is playing in her nursery again. It's an excellent bedtime book, since it follows a dream logic, peeking in on nighttime in different places without the overstimulation of an frantic story. And yet, each individual illustration is beautiful and simple - and peaceful, showing either a domestic scene or a moonlit night.

"And if the moon could talk, it would tell of waves washing onto the beach... if the moon could talk, it would tell of the wind rocking a tree..."

And then all around the world, mothers start to tuck their children into bed.

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