The Birthday Moon

by Lois Duncan, Susan Davis

Relates the wonderful things you can do with the perfect birthday gift--the moon.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Lois Duncan (born Lois Duncan Steinmetz) was an American writer and novelist, known primarily for her books for children and young adults, in particular (and some times controversially considering her young readership) crime thrillers. Duncan's parents were the noted magazine photographers Lois Steinmetz and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Duncan started writing and submitting manuscripts to magazines at the age of ten, and when she was thirteen succeeded in selling her first story.

Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him.

Duncan was best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title. Other made-for-TV movies include Stranger with My Face, Killing Mr. Griffin, Don't Look Behind You, Summer of Fear and Gallows Hill.

In 1989 the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case.

Duncan's second book about her daughter's murder, ONE TO THE WOLVES: ON THE TRAIL OF A KILLER, picks up where the first book leaves off and contains all the new information Kait's family has uncovered from private investigation.

The 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs was released as a theatrical movie in 2009, starring Emma Roberts. That book has now been republished by Scholastic along with two sequels, News for Dogs (2009) and Movie for Dogs (2010).

Duncan's Gothic suspense novel, DOWN A DARK HALL, is being filmed for the Big Screen and will probably be released in 2016.


Follow Lois on Twitter: http://twitter.com/duncanauthor
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i...
http://www.kaitarquette.arquettes.com

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was lovely. The illustrations are older and dated, but it works. This is a bit of a quiet story, all the ways to use a moon or a partial moon that is being given as gifts. The story rhymes well, and the cadence is sometimes not smooth, it’s not sand paper either. This is a lovely story, that I could see having new editions every generation with a new illustrator.

[Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the rhyming in this book. It gave the story a great rhythm and it made me want to know what came next! The pictures were also incredible and gave great image to what was happening in the story.

[Gauss the Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book. Beautifully written with amazing pictures. I especially like the panda!

[Lauren McKinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun little read aloud with lots of beautiful illustrations. It has a dreamy and whimsical art style. The book is full of literary elements you could use in a lesson. It shows the moon getting smaller and smaller which you could use in a science lesson showing the phases of the moon. It is a heart warming story about giving a little girl a moon on her birthday and all the various things she could do with that moon. I loved this book when I was growing up.

I chose this book because it possessed many qualities that correlate with content used in lesson plans. You could use this to lead into a lesson on moon phases. The style in which the author wrote it could be use in a language arts lesson. You could also use it in an art lesson. The illustrations posses a specific type of style. Overall, I thought the book was a fun and engaging book for students to read.

[Paul Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A promise is made to gift the moon in all of its configurations. . .

I found this Lois Duncan picturebook mentioned in Lee Bennett Hopkins's LET THEM BE THEMSELVES. Of course, I checked to see if our library had the book. . .and they did. In the meantime, I went ahead and ordered the used copy I could find from an online store. So, now I have the book from the library AND the one that came today in pristine condition, shrink-wrapped as a library discard. What a treasure this book is.

Duncan's gentle verse accompanied by Susan Davis's whimsical illustrations make this an excellent choice for gift giving or reading aloud in anticipation of an approaching birthday.

When we can go back and find these picture books that could be rekindled as family tradition read-alouds, it just does my heart good.

[Kelsey Scherer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different, but good bedtime story. All about giving someone the moon for their birthday. No matter if it is whole, half, or a small crescent, the moon will make a great birthday gift that will serve many purposes. I really enjoyed the concept of it and all of the rhyming. A great book for younger children.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book as a child and wanted to read it almost every night before bed. My mother even sewed me the black and white dress from the candy shop in the book for me to wear on my birthday. It was amazing.

[Cws]

BR-Dun

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

very beautiful rhythmic wording

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute kids book.