Your Moon, My Moon: A Grandmother's Words to a Faraway Child

by Patricia MacLachlan, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

Overview

For many children who live far away from their grandparents, it can be hard to understand why they can't always be together. Patricia MacLachlan has created a bridge to close the distance by finding connections in memories and the moon they share.

A beautiful, lyrical poem coupled with Bryan Collier's rich collages, Here and There celebrates the importance of staying close to your family, even across thousands of miles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416979500
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	08/16/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Patricia MacLachlan (1938–2022) was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb’s Story; Edward’s Eyes; The True Gift; Waiting for the Magic; White Fur Flying; Fly Away; and Snow Horses. She lived in western Massachusetts.

Bryan Collier is a beloved illustrator known for his unique style combining watercolor and detailed collage. He is a four-time Caldecott Honor recipient for Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, Martin’s Big Words, and Rosa. His books have won many other awards as well, including six Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards. His recent books include By and By, Thurgood, The Five O’Clock Band, and Between the Lines. He lives in New York with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Collier's crisp, complex illustrations add light to Newbery Award–winner MacLachlan's open letter to a grandchild who lives in Africa. The child's visits are rare, and his sunny surroundings contrast with her cold winters. MacLachlan rehearses facts his parents have told her about him ("Now you like every single book about the moon—you love the moon") and ponders ways to keep their bond strong ("I sing the songs I sang to you every night./ I sing them/ so I will remember you,/ hoping that you will remember me too"). Photographic elements—fabrics, textures, people—within Collier's collages enhance the impact of his realistic portraits. Despite the distance and differences in landscape, text and art shape the story from one of separation into one of connection. Successive spreads make it clear that the grandmother is headed to Africa; in the penultimate painting, she enters the child's room with a wrapped present. While not all children are equally conscious of those who are absent, MacLachlan's distinctive grace and lyricism make this an effective if solemn reminder that they are loved and remembered from afar. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Collier's crisp, complex illustrations add light to Newbery Award–winner MacLachlan's open letter to a grandchild who lives in Africa. . . Despite the distance and differences in landscape, text and art shape the story from one of separation into one of connection. Successive spreads make it clear that the grandmother is headed to Africa; in the penultimate painting, she enters the child's room with a wrapped present. While not all children are equally conscious of those who are absent, MacLachlan's distinctive grace and lyricism make this an effective if solemn reminder that they are loved and remembered from afar.

—Publishers Weekly, June 6, 2011

A grandmother who lives in the U.S. prepares to visit her grandson, who lives in Africa. While the moon is common to them both, she points out the many differences in their lives as she reminisces about past times together. When it is cold in one place, it is hot and dry in the other. There is ice-skating where she lives and lake swimming where he lives. Always, though, there is the moon, and as the story comes to a close, grandparent and grandchild are reunited under it. Collier’s vibrant illustrations are a blend of watercolor and his trademark collage. This is a wonderful book to contrast different lifestyles. Pair it with Nigel Gray’s A Country Far Away (Scholastic, 1989) to further illustrate cultural differences and human commonalities.–Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

SLJ, August 2011

From the Publisher

Missing a grandchild in a distant tropical country, a grandmother remembers their times together and reflects that they share the same moon.

While New Englander MacLachlan has dedicated her collection of memories to a granddaughter in Tanzania, Collier's textured watercolor-and-collage illustrations tell a different story. In his version, a brown-haired grandmother is packing a bag and a present and taking an airplane to visit her grandson while recalling earlier visits and imagining what he might be doing.These images extend across the gutter; the gentle text is set on a complementarily colored panel and addresses the grandchild directly. Pictures contrast grandmother's winter of snow and ice with lush African scenes of the child's world; loving dogs dwell in both places. The moon is featureless, neatly avoiding the issue of its upside-down appearance on opposite sides of the equator. On the culminating "Your moon is my moon too" page, text and picture join.Both author's and illustrator's stories are personal and particular; the combination may broaden the appeal. But they may also confuse readers who will wonder about the apartment-dwelling grandmother's proximity to the mountains.

Both doting grandparents and their faraway grandchildren can appreciate the message of this unabashedly sentimental tribute, an obvious gift book.(Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews