Molly on the Moon

by Mary Robinette Kowal, Diana Mayo (Illustrator)

Overview

Award-winning science fiction author Mary Robinette Kowal consulted with a NASA astronaut to craft her first picture book story, accurately describing how living on the moon differs from life on Earth. Beautifully illustrated by Diana Mayo, Molly on the Moon is the tale of two siblings adjusting to their new home.

When Molly and her family move to the moon, they can only pack the essentials—just one toy each for Molly and her baby brother, Luke.

Luckily, Molly has a big imagination. A packing crate becomes a fort, a tarp becomes a witch’s cape, and some cans become a tea set. Baby Luke, on the other hand . . . has blocks.

Molly doesn’t want to share. At first. But then she realizes that when you’re on the moon—or anywhere else—a big imagination and being with someone you love can be infinitely better than all the toys in the universe.

Inspiring and imaginative, Molly on the Moon also includes fascinating facts about the moon’s environment, revealing how the differences in gravity, temperature, and time would affect our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250259615
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	858,634
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning alternate history novel, The Calculating Stars, the first book in the Lady Astronaut series. She is also the author of The Glamourist Histories series and Ghost Talkers and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo Awards, the Nebula, and Locus Awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Uncanny, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary Robinette has also worked as a professional puppeteer, is a member of the Award-winning podcast Writing Excuses, and performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and Neal Stephenson. She lives in Tennessee with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters.

Diana Mayo is an illustrator based in Chelmsford, near London. She enjoys working across the publishing, design and editorial industries. Picture books she has illustrated include Yawning Yoga by Laurie Jordan, The End Is Just the Beginning by Mike Bender, and Snow Ghost by Tony Mitton. She runs the Just Imagine Illustrators Group, exhibits her illustration work and has recently turned her creative hand to making illustrated ceramics.

Editorial Reviews

02/14/2022

Molly, her mother, and baby brother Luke have moved to the moon. But following the rocket-ship ride, their underground moon module is no speculative paradise: each child could bring only one toy—a stuffed lamb for Molly, blocks for Luke—and while Mayo’s (Snow Ghost) mixed-media characterizations, soft textures, and blue hues offer a visual gentleness, the brown-skinned family’s room is cramped, isolated, and sparsely furnished. Molly soon improvises more playthings, including a tin-can tea set and a “witch’s cape” from an old solar panel cover. But when Molly angrily pulls her lamb away from Luke, sending him floating to the room’s ceiling in the moon’s weak gravity, Molly realizes how much her brother needs her. “He didn’t have anybody at all to play with on the Moon,” writes Kowal (the Lady Astronaut series, for adults), “except for her.” And with Mom’s help, she turns pieces of the witch’s cape into a stuffed animal for Luke. Tensions between siblings are familiar material, but Molly’s quiet determination to make the most of her new and limited circumstances gives this story emotional heft. An author’s note discusses the moon’s weak gravity. Ages 3–6. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"A splendid story in praise of imagination and generosity." —Booklist

"Out of this world!" —Kirkus

"[A] sweet reminder that everything is better with a friend—and that a little ingenuity and compassion can lift any situation, regardless of gravity." —BookPage

"This is a lovely story with an SEL message and ­opportunities for maker space activities." —School Library Journal

"...Molly’s quiet determination to make the most of her new and limited circumstances gives this story emotional heft." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

05/01/2022

PreS-Gr 1—For the child who has ever wondered what it's like to live on the moon, this lovely science fiction picture book imagines just that. Molly, her mother, and baby brother Luke are all sent to the moon to live in an underground room. They are limited on what they can bring, so Molly and Luke are each allowed only one toy. Molly chooses a stuffed lamb and Luke brings blocks. Molly has a good time creating new toys out of cast offs from other things but when Luke tries to take Molly's lamb, Molly has to come up with an idea to get her toy back. The message of the story is one of problem-solving and generosity, which works on both the moon and the earth. The artwork is beautifully rendered in mixed media that feels like watercolors splayed across translucent paper, and gives the setting an appropriately ethereal feel. The plot plays with weightlessness, but it's the author's note that adds some substance to the setting of the moon, offering some facts about what it would be like to actually live there. VERDICT This is a lovely story with an SEL message and opportunities for maker space activities.—Debbie Tanner

School Library Journal

2022-04-27
What one wild and precious item would you take with you if you moved away?

Molly, her mother, and her younger brother, Luke, move to the moon. Because of space constraints, Molly and Luke are allowed to bring only one toy each—Molly brings a stuffed lamb, and Luke brings blocks. The siblings quickly figure out how to repurpose items in their module, the room they live in on the moon. Food crates become a fort, a solar panel cover becomes a cape, and tin cans become a tea set. The three of them must learn how to treat their belongings gently and with care since there is no gravity on the moon. Most important, they adapt to their new life and have fun together. An author’s note explains why it is always dark in Molly’s module as well as what gravity is and how space works differently than Earth does, and she challenges readers to make their own toys from common household items. Mayo’s illustrations are quiet yet exquisite, with expressive characters and many full-bleed spreads that indicate the vastness of space. Almost every shade of blue is included, from periwinkle to indigo, and the tiny twinkling lights in the module seem to glow on the page. Molly, Luke, and their mother are brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Out of this world! (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews