Crab Moon (Read and Wonder) by Ruth Horowitz

by Ruth Horowitz

Introduce young naturalists to the mysterious high tide of the horseshoe crabs.One June night, under the full moon, Daniel’s mother wakes him up to see the extraordinary sight of horseshoe crabs spawning on the beach, just as they have every spring for an awesome 350 million years. But when Daniel returns in the morning, he finds only one lonely crab, marooned upside down in the sand. Can he possibly save it? Like a perfect day at the beach, CRAB MOON leaves an indelible memory of a special adventure between parent and child, and a quiet message about doing our part to preserve even earth’s oldest creatures.

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Nature, Nonfiction, Childrens, Summer, Animals

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

I have worked as a librarian in a Catholic girls’ high school, raised two children, run for public office, taught Torah at a Hebrew school and served the causes of truth and grammar as a contributing editor at Vermont’s alternative weekly newspaper, Seven Days. I grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and also spent part of my childhood in Paris. Since then I’ve lived in Los Angeles and Burlington, Vermont. I now live with my husband and write full time in Rhode Island. I recently completed a novel for adults.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impulse grab at the library. I had no idea horseshoe crabs (which the notes explain are not really crabs) lay their eggs en masse onshore, somewhat like sea turtles do. Nice little book for educators.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mother and son visit the horseshoe crab during the full moon. The illustrations are nice, good book for boys.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when I learn something new from a picture book.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learn a little about the horseshoe crabs that come to shore on a summer's eve. If you're staying at a beach house, you'll certainly want to add this to your packing list!

Ages: 5 - 8

Here’s a few of our bedtime favs: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: mentions "hundreds of millions of years."

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[Lauren DeVore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 2000 ( and then again in 2004), realistic fiction. This story is abut a boy named Daniel. He went to the beach with his family over the summer during the time when the crabs are hatching during the high tide. His mother lets him watch the crabs and then in the morning, he sees one on its back and helps flip it around. I think this book would be a fun read aloud for the class.

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good picture book with illustrations of the beach and wildlife, especially the horseshoe crabs.
A boy and his mother visit the coast and go at night to watch the horseshoe crabs lay their eggs. He returns the next day to find all of them gone, crabs, except for one left behind on her back. He rolls her over and watches her return to the ocean.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief story of a boy seeing horseshoe crabs come ashore at night to lay their eggs. One page of info about horseshoe crabs filling the story with a few facts included. As migrating shore birds eat the eggs on their migration from South America to the upper limits of North America. Heaviest concentration of horseshoe crabs come ashore in the Delaware Bay.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book to show children about crabs and how they lay their eggs on the beach. The beautiful illustrations, age appropriate text and information page at the back are all super. I would love to share this with students and my own children. A wonderful find!

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the video book of Crab Moon. 🦀 perhaps that’s cheating but the words were on the video so it was like reading. What mom lets her kid go down to the beach in the dark to see horseshoe crabs mating - barefooted??? Ouch!

[Ella Dagou]

This book can be used to teach students: painting a picture through words, word choice, plot, setting, theme, and characterization.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luminous.

[Elise Syphers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story about horseshoe crabs. I loved the illustrations in this book

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book about overlooked sea creatures and the night adventures on the beach that can be had with them.

[Nicole Sanfilippo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a young boy who finds baby crabs being born and he visits them to see how they are as they are making their way to the ocean. This book provides lots of pictures for the readers to look at and enjoy. This could be used during a lesson about the ocean or sea creatures.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved horseshoe crabs and how they remind one that the beach is not all sunblock and plastic buckets, but the foyer to something deeply mysterious and ancient.

When my oldest was a tiny girl, standing on a milk crate to put her hands in the (now long gone) touch tank at the Norwalk Maritime Center, two boys, older by at least five years, came in and were elbowing each other and daring their bad selves to touch the scary horseshoe crab. And little Jess, not quite six, lifts one up and explains in a high lisping voice that they were not scary and also how you can tell the male from the female. Fast forward to two eleven year old boys slinking out of the touch tank room as a little girl waves bye-bye.

And this book? A pleasure for horseshoe crab lovers and beach lovers and nature lovers already in the making or learning to love the world.

[Alisha Funkhouser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horowitz, R., & Kiesler, K. (2000). Crab moon. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

Library of Virginia

Tumblebook

I choose Crab Moon from the Tumblebooks because I love going to the beach and the cover of the book grabbed my interest immediately. The story is about a boy whose mother teaches him about horseshoe crabs. She takes him to see them lay their eggs on the beach under the full moon. He is excited to see the crabs and in the morning he finds one left on the beach, somehow tipped over. He turns it over so it can go back into the water and says, "See you next summer!" I thought this book was interesting. It would be a good book to read for science if we were learning about the ocean or animal habits. I didn't love the book and felt that it was a little boring in the illustrations. I would probably keep it on my shelf though.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.
a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal
such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as
a frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.
b. Relate seasonal changes to observations of how a tree changes throughout a school
year.
c. Investigate the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed and by recording
changes over a period of time.
d. Identify fungi (mushroom) as living organisms.

[Laura Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations in the book, Crab Moon were incredible. The illustrations were realistic and the illustrator used water color. The illustrations told their own story. The book had lengthy text in with complex vocabulary. Younger readers might have difficulty with reading comprehension, but older readers such as fifth grade and above would enjoy this book. Younger readers would be engaged with the illustrations.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crab Moon is a story about a young boy discovering the mystery of horseshoe crabs on a family vacation to the beach. I am using examples from his adventure--comparisons, setting, onomatopoeia--in my presentation on descriptive writing tomorrow morning. It is a gr. 3-5 book with wonderful illustrations and written with attention to the whole sensory experience.

[ZZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book while I was on vacation in North Carolina. I liked this book because it helped me learn about horse shoe crabs.

[Emily Carstenbrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gorgeously illustrated book! Pictures are so real! They set a mood of calm and relaxation. It takes you back to childhood summer memories.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned something new and enjoyed the poetic language.

[Jaleen Kinser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful paintings illustrate a sight most kiddos will never have the chance to witness. Wonderful book!

[Joy Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a great way to incorporate literature and science in the same lesson. It is engaging and can lead to several discussions of different animals and their unique qualities.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Nice illustrations.

[Mia Valdez Quellhorst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice balance between beautiful narrative descriptions and science facts. Gorgeous illustrations.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and mysterious.