If You Were the Moon
Written by Laura Purdie Salas
Illustrated by Jaime Kim
Millbrook Press  3/01/2017
978-1-4677-8009-4
32 pages    Ages 5—8

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“What would you do
if you were the moon?

“Do you think you would rest
quietly in the night sky?

“Oh, no. The moon does so much
more than you might imagine!

“The moon spins like a twilight
ballerina, it plays tug-of-war
with the ocean, and it lights a
pathway for baby sea turtles.
Discover the many other
roles the moon plays in this
lyrical picture book.”
[INSIDE JACKET]

Review
[WC 395]
“Helloooooooooo up there, moon! I’m sooooooo tired. I wish I could do exactly nothing, just like you,” says a young girl sitting in bed and reading by moonlight. The moon is up there, in the night sky. It sits there, occasionally changing its orientation from full moon, to half, and then quarter. It lights up the night sky and it keeps the sun company. But really, what else does the moon do up there all night long?
The moon answers, “But I do so many things, child. And if you were me, you would too.” This exchange sets the mood for the rest of the book. The moon tells the girl all the ways it benefits us on earth: how it protects, guides, inspires, tracks time, and lights up our sky. That is a lot for one rock sitting up in space to do for another rock in that same space. But there is more.

Laura Purdie Salas has an answer for the young girl, visually enhanced by Jaime Kim’s wondrous art. The moon does many things up in the night sky. Many kids may not know the moon keeps the Earth in balance, so it does not wobble while it spins, or how it protects earth by taking most of the meteorite hits, and, though it cannot produce any light, it reflects the sun to give us moonlight. But there are more and Salas gives kids fourteen ways in which the moon does anything but sit still and quiet in the night sky.
Kim’s acrylic and digital illustrations use a greenish background from which the moon, with its smiling face, shines down upon readers. The moon actually shows emotion as it changes facial expressions, size, or activity. Children will easily connect with Kim’s moon and Salas’ poetry. Teachers can use If You Were the Moon for a nonfiction story hour, or an introduction to the moon and astronomy in general. Young children will understand the concepts Salas writes about thanks to her poetic word choices and Kim’s illustrations. If You Were the Moon is a fun, educational picture book with concepts that are easy to understand and remember. This could make a great series “If You Were Mars” could be next.

Included is a glossary and resources for further reading. If You Were the Moon was fact-checked by astrophysicist Shelbi R. Schimpf.

IF YOU WERE THE MOON. Text copyright © 2017 by Laura Purdie Salas. Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Jaime Kim. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Millbrook Press, Minneapolis, MN.

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Reprinted with permission from IF YOU WERE THE MOON © 2017 by Laura Purdie Salas, Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. Illustrations © 2017 by Jaime Kim.

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Copyright © 2017 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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If You Were the Moon
Written by Laura Purdie Salas
Illustrated by Jaime Kim
Millbrook Press 3/01/2017
9781467780094