If the Moon, written by Matthew Burgess (author of the Caldecott Medal-winning Fireworks, illustrated by Cátia Chen) and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (Mina; Pokko and the Drum), is a quiet, thoughtful meditation on nighttime worry and imagination.
The book, which invites readers to reconsider the phrase "if" as an opening toward possibility, is structured almost entirely in questions. A young child lies awake under a patchwork quilt. "If can be a dark room where worries swell and rise...." In just a handful of words, paired with a single image, the emotional stakes are clear: this is a fearful child. A page turn offers a pivot: "Or." The child dives into a quilt panel as if it's water. The text's tone begins to loosen as the waves of color ripple out from the point of exuberant impact. From there, "if" becomes a launching point rather than a trap. Each scenario builds on the last, gently expanding the child's mental landscape away from worry and toward curiosity. Forsythe's illustrations reinforce this shift with formatting and a soft, cohesive palette. As the child's curiosity deepens, the illustrations expand as well; they move from contained panels to full pages and then to sweeping double-page spreads.
Burgess avoids overt instruction. There is no direct statement about managing anxiety. Instead, the book trusts readers to recognize the transformation: "If" moves from unease to a prompt for creative thinking. Spare in text yet expansive in implication, If the Moon offers a gentle reframing of a familiar childhood experience and positions imagination as a steady, accessible counterbalance to worry. --Julie Danielson