A Full Moon is Rising Book Review

 This book review is on a poetry book that is moon themed.

Book Review #8, A Full Moon is Rising

1.       Bibliography: Singer, Marilyn. Lee and Low Books; 2011. ISBN: 9781620141960.

2.       Plot Summary: This is a book of poems that are connected only by one thing- the moon. The book examines the role that the moon plays all across the world. China, India, Mexico, Israel and the USA are some of the places featured in the book. The book starts and ends with Broadway in New York City.

3.       Critical Analysis: This topical poem book starts off with a note about how we only have one moon in our world, along with some facts about the moon. Moon drawings accompany this text, showing the moon in different phases. The book then opens with the poem, “Broadway Moon”, which is where it closes too. This first poem compares the moon to an actor, making a stage debut, “On the sidewalk, an audience of one watches and silently applauds when it grandly appears.” The moon is shown, appearing shy behind tall skyscrapers while the city moves in motion below it. All of the illustrations are in bright, primary colors, showcasing the moon at the top of most pages, along with various shades of blue and grey for the skies. The moon travels through poetry, in no particular order, visiting many places around the world. Poems such as “Sukkot” and “Lunar Eclipse” explore cultural connections to the moon, while poems such as “Staircase of the Moon” and “Harvest Time” focus more on the moon’s position and physical features. “Staircase of the Moon” compares the moon to a jewel, with lines like “Its glow builds a magic staircase from the mudflats to the sky. Can someone climb and pluck that gem?” The language of phrases such as “magic staircase” create strong imagery of castles and magic, lending itself to a feeling of youthful nostalgia. “Cloudy Night” focuses on a young girl during a cloudy night, knowing that the moon has to be somewhere, even if she can’t see it. The illustration accompanies this, as this is one of the few pages not to feature a moon in the sky, but instead dark blue and grey clouds. The young girl is reading a book about moons, and is hopeful that she will be well-known in the astronomy field someday. The emotion of hope is strong here, ending the poem with its rhyming lines of “She thinks, One day they’ll name a crater after me. She hopes, Or better yet, a lunar sea.” Emotion is also felt in “Harvest Time.” In this poem, a grandfather and a grandson are outside, noticing the “moonlight brighter than headlights.” The grandfather proceeds to tell a family tale, one that he has told many times before, bringing together strong feelings of nostalgia and family love. While most of the poems are around the same length, power in few words is showcased in “Moon Watching”, written in a Haiku style, which focuses on the image of flamingos silhouetted against the moon. Readers know that traditionally, flamingos are hot pink, but the illustration shows them as black silhouettes, leaving readers to imagine what they might look like. Singer chooses to end the book back at Broadway in New York City, where once again, the metaphor of a moon as an actor is presented. This full moon won’t appear again for a little while. A little girl watching the moon declares it as “Just the moon.”, even though readers now know that it is more than just a moon. The text states, “Between the skyscrapers, it takes a bow.” This time, the moon is no longer hiding, but it is up the sky, bold like a pearl, against a deep blue sky.

4.       Review Excerpts:

·         Book Links Lasting Connections Award, 2011

·         Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best list addition, 2012

·         From Booklist, “In many selections, Singer neatly folds scientific information into the lyrical lines, as in a scene of ghostly divers moving silently over a reef as the coral prepare to spawn under the full moon.”

·         From Kirkus, “Gentle and lovely, just like its inspiration.”

·         From School Library Journal, “This title will work quite well as a read-aloud for younger children, and independent readers will find much to think about and appreciate.”

5.       Connections: Display with other books about the moon.

·         Gibbons, Gale. The Moon Book, Holiday House. ISBN: 9780823443239.

·         Henkes, Kevin.  Kitten’s First Full Moon, Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 9780062417107.

·         Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon, Philomel Books. ISBN: 9780399214578.

·         Milbourne, Anna. On the Moon, Usborne Books. ISBN: 9781409535782.

Have children draw their own pictures of the moon, and display them in the library.

Have a speaker from a local space museum visit the library to speak to children about the moon.

Make moon cookies, using a recipe like this one, https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/moon-cookies/302dae35-0461-47f1-9c4c-fda90b26728b, and share with children during a reading of this book. If space allows, children can make their own cookies too.

Consider hosting a moon party when it is a full moon, with moon themed snacks, and books from the above list. Perhaps children can use a telescope to look out into the sky.