Mending the Moon

by Emma Pearl, Sara Ugolotti (Illustrator)

Overview

One fateful night, the moon shines so big and so bright that it is too heavy to hold itself up in the sky. When it tumbles down and breaks into many glimmering pieces, Luna sees the whole thing. Her grandfather Poppa warns that without the moon in the sky, the oceans will stop moving and the earth will start to wobble. Luna and Poppa must mend it, but they may not be able to do it all on their own.

The mountain is alive with creatures big and small whose watchful eyes also saw the moon fall. Together, can they find all the shards, stick them together, and get the moon safely back into the sky?

In this enchanting tale with a timeless, folklore feel, a girl, her grandfather, and all the animals of the mountain hold the power to set the world right and forever leave their mark on the moon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645675600
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	344,053
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Emma Pearl has been writing about the moon since she was a young girl. Today, she lives in Toko, New Zealand in the shadow of Mount Taranaki, a mountain much like the one where Luna and Poppa find the broken moon. She finds inspiration for her stories everywhere, but especially in her children. This is her debut picture book.

Sara Ugolotti loves watching the moon, especially in those moments when it is brightly colored and big. When she’s not working as a full-time illustrator, she also enjoys photography, travel, and cooking. The books she has illustrated include The Story Thief (Bloomsbury) and Up in the Air (DK Books). Sara lives in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Editorial Reviews

"[A] magical story reminiscent of beloved folk tales." —Foreword Reviews, starred review

"[A]n ingenious explanation for the moon's markings." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-11-16
Luna and her grandfather have their work cut out for them when one night the moon falls on the mountain where they live and shatters.

According to Poppa, the oceans and maybe the whole world are in danger if the moon can’t be repaired and rehung. Luckily, all the animals on the mountain seem to know this, too, and join in. First, the creatures help gather up all the small, glowing pieces. And when Luna and Poppa’s efforts to use tree sap to make repairs only leave messy blotches, the rabbits call on the silkworms to spin thread that binds everything back together. But now how to put it back in the sky? In Ugolotti’s moonlit woodland scenes, smiling bears, deer, rabbits, and other wildlife join the two tan-skinned human residents to watch as, with a glorious whirl of bright colors, great flocks of birds gather and then place the glowing orb back among the stars…and then to dance in joy and relief. Later, when Luna frets that the smudges are still visible on the moon, Poppa’s response that “that is just how it was always supposed to look” has an anticlimactic ring. Still, being as all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t do even that well with Humpty Dumpty, there’s no cause for complaint. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Falls off toward the end but not before offering an ingenious explanation for the moon’s markings. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews