Moon Theater

by Etienne Delessert

Overview

A young stagehand must complete a host of tasks before the moon can take center stage in the theater of night.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568462080
Publisher:	The Creative Company
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

04/27/2015
Unsettling glittery-eyed creatures are tamed by a boy, who masterminds the coming of night like a stage manager. "I water the stars," he says, wielding a sprinkling can. "I dress the birds in long black coats." The huge birds, black paint dripping off their beaks, look slightly embarrassed, but game. "I train wild dogs to howl at the moon," he continues, waving a baton at hills spotted with dogs with huge and terrible teeth. "It all began long, long ago, and it starts anew every night. It's my moon theater," he finishes simply. The gray of night pours over the creatures, and their scary features soften at the sight of the boy. It's the kind of story that mines a rich vein of childhood emotions; Delessert (Full Color) remembers what it is to fear the coming of night, and imagines how powerful it would feel to have mastery over it. Some younger readers may be put off by the teeth and bulbous snouts of the night creatures, but the contrast between the boy's matter-of-fact tone and his mythic project has a strange charm. Ages 6—up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3—A young stagehand works in a mysterious theater where he readies the world for the nightly rise of the Moon. He describes his duties, which include watering the stars, sprinkling star powder on the dolls, playing tricky games with the rats, and feeding hungry night monsters, all before a gnomelike little old man lifts the Moon above a proscenium stage. The surreal, glassy-eyed, knob-nosed creatures with blocky bodies dominate every scene. Their appearance and the illustrations' crowded composition are reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's art. The text, which is occasionally punctuated with rebuslike icons, features short declarative sentences that will be manageable for beginning readers. Despite the slightly eerie feel, the book's subdued color palette and nighttime theme make this a possible choice for bedtime.—Madigan McGillicuddy, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal