New Moon

PreS?In this sweet, gentle story, Vincena has just discovered and fallen in love with the full winter moon outside her window. When the next few nights are cloudy and moonless, Vinnie is heartbroken. Her doting older brother (the narrator) shows her pictures in books and recites moon nursery rhymes for her, but still she misses the real one. Finally, the new moon reappears-during the day. The two youngsters don their snowsuits and run out to celebrate. Poetic but simple, Shea's text rings true to the voice of a six or seven-year-old boy. Falwell's mixed-media illustrations bring the words to life and then some, particularly in the scene in which our hero (with construction paper cat-ears taped to his baseball cap) plays "Hey Diddle Diddle" on a pasta-box fiddle so his sister can jump over a crayoned moon in her homemade cow hat. Bold, lively colors and textures are montaged from cut paper, block prints, layered tissue, and fabric. The artist's skill with color will make youngsters shiver and melt, often in the same picture. The children's dark-eyed faces are painted simply but brim with personality. The text is printed clearly but unobtrusively along the sides of the pages. This book is a little gem. Children who read it will all wish they had a brother like Vincena's.?Karen L. MacDonald, Fairmount Public Library, Sandwich, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3^-6. The cut-paper artwork is a standout in a simple and lyrical seasonal story. After baby Vinnie's big brother shows her the full moon on a cold, clear night, she longs to see it again. The moon isn't out the next night, and then, it's overcast. Finally, Vinnie's brother takes her to a snowy hillside to see the crescent moon in the daytime. The very appealing relationship between the siblings is warm and affectionate. Falwell strikes a good balance between the appealing indoor and outdoor scenes. Inside scenes feature sherbet colors, restrained patterns, and expressive characters, while outside, silhouettes capture the lovely tranquility of wintry nights. Falwell gets the infant's physicality just right; Shea zeros in on her personality. Nice. Julie Corsaro