The Moon Was the Best
PreSchool-Grade 3-- An enchanting and beautifully designed collaboration. A young girl asks her parents who are leaving for Paris to " 'Remember the special things to tell me,' " the things that she would like if she were there. Zolotow's lyrical text and Hoban's evocative photos present the catalog of images the mother brings home to her daughter, not touristy sights and scenes, but more personal ones, such as flowers and trees, bookstalls and bread, pigeons and dogs, a carousel and a fountain. As a final statement of reassurance, the woman concludes that , " 'the moon was the best because it was the same moon shining on you, so I knew we weren't far apart at all.' " Full-page, full-color photos face the large-print text, which is framed in art nouveau designs and surrounded by pastel colors. Small, rectangular closeups of the photos, also framed, highlight the feelings behind each memory. This book could supplement discussions of foreign countries or aid families traveling to France, in conjunction with Roxie Munro's quite different, but equally well-done Inside-Outside Book of Paris (Dutton, 1992). However, children do not need to know anything about the city to sense the magic of this unique presentation. Older elementary readers might even be inspired to collect distinctive images and memories of their own areas. --Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NYCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.