Hello, Moon!

by Francesca Simon, Ben Cort (Illustrations)

Join a boy and the moon in a fun good night story!

In this perfect read-aloud story, a little boy warms up to the moon at bedtime. They have a sweet rapport, with the boy talking to the moon as if it were any other potential new friend.

The boy asks the moon if it enjoys some of his favorite activities--and they share in some, like pretending to be pirates, together. But then the boy starts to think big. Can the moon see the city? Can the moon see the whole wide world? What are the moon's friends like? Soon the boy grows tired, says good night to the moon, and falls asleep.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Space, Friendship, Pre K

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2014

About the author

Francesca Simon grew up in California and attended both Yale and Oxford Universities, where she specialised in Medieval Studies. How this prepared her to write children’s books she cannot imagine, but it did give her a thorough grounding in alliteration.

She then threw away a lucrative career as a medievalist and worked as a freelance journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Telegraph, and Vogue (US). After her son Joshua was born in 1989, she started writing children’s books full time. One of the UK’s best-selling children’s writers, Francesca has published over 50 books, including the immensely popular HORRID HENRY series, which has now sold over twelve million copies.

Francesca won the Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 at the British Book Awards for Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. HORRID HENRY is published in 24 countries and is also an animated CITV series. She lives in London with her husband, son, and Tibetan Spaniel, Shanti.

Reviews

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inquisitive child interrogates moon.

[Deania · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a good book and the ending is not what I though it was going to be. The boy asks a bunch of different questions to the moon. The ending is great as the boy is going to sleep. It is in a night setting and I love the questions that are asked. It is a good bedtime story.

[Jessica Gilligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon, Francesca. (2013). Hello, Moon! Great Britain: Orion Children's Books.
Picture Book Soak

Hello, Moon! by Francesca Simon and Ben Cort, is a bedtime book in which a boy asks the moon many fascinating questions as he's trying to fall asleep. The boy and the moon plunge into his imagination as he asks and answers his own questions, and the pages are richly illustrated with their adventures. In fact, the illustrations are the only thing that makes this book worth checking out because the text didn't flow very well. But I do think it would be a great book to go along with a lesson on sentence types: declarative, exclamatory and interrogative, since it contains a lot of sentence variety. It also would be a good book for students to read to brainstorm ideas of things to write about.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Late at night, a boy finds companionship and strikes up a one-sided conversation with the moon. It turns out they have quite a lot in common, and having each other around keeps both from feeling too lonely. The accompanying acrylic illustrations make it clear that this is one boy just full of questions and an irrepressible curiosity. I like how both the moon and the boy can settle down for a restful sleep after their chat.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think the boy in this book, asking questions to the moon really desires an answer from the moon. This book will share new vocabulary and has nice illustrations, but don't think I'll be sharing this with any youngsters at Storytime.

[Brook Donatelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a cute bedtime book. The lonely boy finds a friend in the moon, he asks the questions not really expecting anything in return. The lonely boy is content just having someone to talk to, even if this means nobody is responding. I can relate to this book because sometimes I just feel the need to talk, not necessarily searching for any response. Sometimes its nice just to know someone is listening. My favorite part is at the end when he says “Don’t be lonely. I’m here. Anytime you want to talk.” If the moon gets lonely too, the boy is letting him know he has a friend in him. I think the illustrations were good as well, because they show exactly what the boy is talking about. My favorite picture was when the boy was sitting on the tree branch talking to the moon, and the moon is taking up the whole background. All in all, I enjoy this book and can imagine young children would too.

[Sunah Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lonely boy on the bed asks questions to the moon through the window as if he was asking a friend. The questions are simple and common such as whether the moon likes to eat chocolate ice cream or plays pirates.
What I like about this book is the last several pages when the boy says, “Don’t be lonely. I’m here. Anytime you want to talk (not paged)”. Instead of asking to be with him when he feels lonely, he tells the Moon that he will be there for the Moon. In other words, the boy is concerned about whether the Moon feels lonley like him. The recursive patterns of the sentence structures may be helpful to learn language as well. The Illustrations are artistic and creative when illustrating the ice cream cones as if they are attractions in an amusement park and when portraying the top of a mountain, which was portrayed over the two-page spread.

[Brynne Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book by Francesca Simon depicts the imagination of a boy and his talks with the moon. The boy describes the adventures that he would go on with the moon, asking the moon the things that it liked and telling it the things that he liked to do. This is a cute little story that describes what a child's imagination is like when thinking about things such as the moon. The theme of this book is imagination and without that, children don't have very much to think about.
I really enjoyed this book and the illustrations throughout it. The illustrations really brought to life what the boy was talking about when he was going on adventures with the moon and telling him everything that he enjoyed to do.
I would use this book in the classroom to teach kids how to use their imagination and dream big. Kids have such big imaginations and sometimes they don't know how to use them!

[Kelsey Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little boy who talks to the moon as he is trying to fall to sleep. He asks the moon a bunch of different questions and the illustrations show his imagination as the little boy is talking to the moon. In the end, the boy falls asleep. I loved the illustrations of this book because they showed exactly what the little boy was picturing when he was talking to the moon. My favorite illustration was the boy sitting on a tree branch and the moon covering the whole page as they talked. It is such a fun book! I think this book would be mainly aimed toward little kids. I think you could use this book to teach about the moon. I think you could talk about the many characteristics of the moon and what it is like to be on the moon.

[Lexi Vollebregt]

In this book, a boy is lonely at night and starts talking to the moon. He is very curious as to what the moon likes and what the moon can see so he asks a bunch of questions to the moon.

I think this book is very cute. It is short and I think it could have been a little longer than what it is. I liked the illustrations in the book. It makes the moon look soft and sweet.

I can use this book in the classroom if we were to be talking about space or more specifically, the moon. It would be a cute warm-up before we would dive into the science of the moon.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought it as a gift for my grandchild. The book has lovely illustrations and will make a fun bedtime story. There are details the child can follow along with such as the cat that appears on each page, and the fact that it's a tiger cat and the boy's favorite animal is a tiger. There is a tiger on the front of the magazine on the boy's nightstand. It will be fun to read repeatedly to a child.

[Libby Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy talks with the moon while he tries to fall asleep.

My two year old son is obsessed with this book and I’m not quite sure why. The illustrations are playful and imaginative, perhaps drawing on familiar events of my son.

It’s a great bedtime read to enliven the imagination yet calm the body at the same time.

Recommended for 2-4 year olds

[Amanda Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was decent, although it would be great to use for a lesson on sentence structures. Simon uses various types of sentences and fairly advanced vocabulary. I think it would be a better story if the moon had answered. I was not engaged in the story.

[Gianna Campana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book requires some imagination. A boy befriends the moon and spends his time playing games and talking to the moon. He then starts to think of some bigger pictures of what his new friends, the moon, is truly capable. I would use this book for a read aloud to allow for open discussion.

[Mykenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i just thought it was okay but i enjoyed the bright illustrations

[Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book captures the essence of children's curiosity. It's definitely a read again! I loved the illustrations!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story all about a curious little boy who asks questions of the moon!

[Hannah Klumb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a book that you put in the classroom just to have a larger quantity.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book full of questions that have nothing to do with the moon. Not impressed. Maybe I just don’t get it.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little child asks the moon a zillion questions at bedtime.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good bedtime story, esp. for those leery of the dark. When else can you have such a good audience for all your questions and ideas?

LFL find.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A boy asks the moon a lot of questions before he falls asleep.

[Shajie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story

[Maeghan Nutmeg Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like to play, Moon? Me, too!

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of cute. A child asks qustions to the moon like "Do you have a favorite ice cream flavor?" Pretty good art.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy gets lonely at bedtime and ends up having a one-sided conversation with the moon. Questions reflect the interests of many young children: favorite foods, animals and interests. A comforting story to read to children who may be afraid to sleep by themselves at night. Every two page spread is filled with different bold colors. Animal and human faces look eerily similar. Coloring and shading on the young boy reflects the moon’s brightness and warmth. Great read-aloud book for story time which prompts reader to answer questions while imaging they are the moon.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious but lonely little boy has a conversation with the moon in Francesca Simon's latest book, Hello, Moon! I enjoyed the illustrations and the story. I thought it was very creative and playful. I think it's a bit unusual for a bedtime story, which, could be a very good thing depending on if your child connects with the book. After all, there are only so many times you can enjoy reading stories about sleepy bunnies and lambs.

[Lauren Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello Moon! by Francesca Simon is a fantasy book that highlights a young boy asking the moon all these question about having friends, what the moon can see, and what the moon likes. Eventually both the boy and moon fall asleep. This book is appropriate for children ages of Pre-K to first grade. This book allows children to use their imagination when listening and reading the story. The guided reading level is a level J. This book is a great bed time story.

[RC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, Moon is a sweet goodnight story about a young boy and his conversation with the moon - one that sounds like he is talking to a new friend. The boy asks the moon what he likes to do and the boy tells him about his favorite food and things to do. Then the boy starts asking bigger questions - like can the moon see the whole world and how many friends he has. A great bedtime read!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is cute - it's about a little boy who is lonely at night and starts befriending the moon. It's simple and short - good for an ECE level audience. There isn't a tremendous amount of substance, but the pictures are lovely!