Many Moons

Lately, I have been looking for children's books that I have never read.  Recently, I went through Caldecott Award winners and found Many Moons.  I was drawn to the colors of the cover and also to a book written by the humorist James Thurber.  I was not disappointed in what I found.

Author/Illustrator: Story by James Thurber, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company (January, 1943)

Prices: Hardcover - $13.60, Paperback - $7.00

Reading level: Ages 4 - 8

Interest level: Lower Grades

Physical Characteristics: Hardcover, 48 pages, 8.8x10

ISBN: 9780156569804

Genre: Children's Fiction Picture Book

Subjects:

Caldecott Winner

Princesses

Wishing - Wishes

Children – Fiction and Literature

Annotation: A sick Princess believes that the only thing that will make her well is if someone can bring her the moon. 

Summary:

Princess Lenore gets sick when she eats too many raspberry cakes. While she is laying in bed she looks out the window and sees the moon. She tells her father that if he gives her the moon, she will be well again.  The King calls in many wise men and they all tell him why she cannot have the moon.  The King does not know what to do.   He complains to the Court Jester.  The court jester then crafts a solution to the King’s problem and gives the young Princess the moon.

Evaluation:

I had never read this book before this past week, and I loved it.  The humor, wit and details of the story made this an easy and engrossing read.  And the watercolor illustrations by Slobotkin are lovely.  They are very evocative of another time, yet they are thoroughly engaging in this modern day.

Similar Titles or Authors:

Tatterhood and other Tales by Ethel Johnston Phelps

The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch

Not all Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen

Websites:

http://slobodkin.net/books/target45.html

Awards & Recognition:

Caldecott Winner 1944

American Library Association’s prize for the best children’s book of 1943

School Library Journal’s “Top 100 Picture Books List,”

Professional Reviews:

HornBook Magazine

Many moons (Book Review). 1943. The new Yorker. vol:19  pp120

Notes:

Even though this book won the Caldecott Medal with Louis Slobodkin's illustrations, the book was reprinted in 1990 with new illustrations by Marc Simont. 

This was Thurber's first children's book

Many Moons has been made in to both an Opera and a Play.

All images (c)1943 Louis Slobodkin