Faces of the Moon
Grade 1-3–Die-cut holes–starting with a big round one on the front cover–track the Moon's phases as seen in the northern hemisphere. While Crelin explains what's happening in verse (The Moon's first phase, we call it NEW–/when Moon's between the Sun and you./Her sunlit side is turned away,/and we can't see her, night or day), and then (superfluously) again in prose at the end, Evans's digitally enhanced linoleum-block prints depict two children watching the sky or going about their daily or nightly business in a variety of urban and outdoor settings. Though the text could have used better proofreading (crescent is misspelled twice), the special design elements, heavy paper stock, and rich coloring add up to a sumptuous presentation. Consider this volume as an enhancement for more conventional treatments such as Suzanne Slade'sThe Phases of the Moon(Rosen, 2007) or Franklyn Mansfield Branley's classicThe Moon Seems to Change(HarperCollins, 1960; o.p.).–John Peters, New York Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.