Lindsey Yankey's (Bluebird) stunning illustrations call to mind batik patterns and colors in this folktale-like story of Moon, who wishes to spend "just one day" as the sun.
A nighttime palette of violets and olive greens sets the scene. As Moon imagines the Sun's sights, the pages explode with poppies and black-eyed Susans that match the golden globe in the sky. A carnival-like atmosphere pervades as a parade of children balance on intricately patterned balls, and hold pinwheels and exotic banners. In another two-page spread, of "tigers sunbathing," one wraps its tail like an outline around the sun while another encircles a patch of flowers. At the book's midpoint, Sun and Moon appear together, separated by a mound of plants and butterflies. Sun spells out the conditions for the exchange: "First, if we trade, it will last forever, not just one day. Second, you must spend an entire night... looking very closely at the earth." As the moon fulfills the requirements, he sees the evening equivalent of his fantasies of daytime: a nighttime carnival, and foxes leaving the circle of their den. Moon also sees "children dreaming": riding astride a goose, on a sailboat, in a helium balloon. In a nod to The Little Prince, Moon views the blossoms of a baobab tree and watches a lamplighter at work. A mother owl who'd left her nest at the start of the book returns at the close with a meal for her young.
Yankey's gentle message suggests that when we pay attention, our daily routines take on new meaning. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness