Wake Up, Moon!

by Lita Judge

An energetic squirrel isn’t ready to give up on winter fun and go to bed in this cozy picture book about animal friends who spend an unforgettable night romping in the snow!The snowstorm is over. The stars are out. But one little squirrel is not in bed. He’s having far too much fun building snow animals and gliding and skating on glittering ice with his friends Squirrel, Owl, Fox, and Bear…until drowsy eyes and sleepy yawns begin to slow the animals’ steps. Could it finally be time for Squirrel to turn in for the night?

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Friendship

40 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[Y.Poston]

a beautiful forest critter friendship
night story

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The excitement of snow beams from every page with a sense of friendship and fun.

As nighttime comes, the snow storm finally stops, and while everyone should be in bed, Squirrel wants to play out in the fresh white world under the stars. So, off Squirrel goes. Of course, it's no fun to play alone, so he does his best to get some friends to join him as they slide and glide all over the place.

The wonder of fresh snow under a starlit sky sets a beautiful scene, which comes across wonderfully in the illustrations. It's a dreamland and invites to fun. It's hard not to want to join Squirrel as he decides to head out and play. Surprisingly, this book isn't about how irritating Squirrel is by waking his friends up, though. Rather, the sleepy friends readily-ish join in. It keeps a positive attitude the whole way through. There is humor, especially in the illustrations, to mix with the abundant energy these friends have. And it rounds up nicely at the end to create a bedtime read, if desired.

The text is relatively short with only a few lines at most on each page. It makes a nice read-aloud or works for those readers who are pretty sure of their words. The atmosphere invites to dreams, and while I missed a page or so in the beginning to show the storm and falling night so as to make it clear how late it was, the atmosphere invites in and holds the enter way through.

It's a lovely read for the wintery months and is sure to receive the word 'again'.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review:

This is a cute story book, perfect for a younger child who isn’t ready to go to sleep. There is a lot of repeating the phrase “wake up [animal/thing]”, but I think it works in this book because the repetitiveness can make a child calm down/sleepier hearing the phrase over and over again. I also really loved the artwork and how cute the animal characters looked!

Summary:

A squirrel isn’t ready to go to sleep, it wants to play! Luckily they can wake up their animal friends and convince them to play until squirrel gets tired for real…

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were super cute and the cover picture is why I actually picked it up. However, I’m a tad concerned about the content/message of this story. In my opinion, it suggests that the big brown bear is growling, not because he wants to scare (or eat!) the squirrel, fox or owl, but because he’s having fun! They then all proceed to play together as friends. It just doesn’t seem to be a good idea to perhaps present a bear in that way. But, that’s just me. And if I’m being honest, there are maybe a few kids who need to be eaten by bears. Hahaha.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

WAKE UP, MOON captures childlike delight about winter storms. Energetic squirrel is like a little child who isn’t ready to go to bed. He is ready for a romp in the winter wonderland. He wakes up his hibernating friends and together they set off on a fun, adventure in the snow. Tight, short text and beautiful illustrations pair together to create a great read aloud for winter Storytime or bedtime.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The winter storm is over and has left the forest a magical winter wonderland. Little squirrel wakes up and heads out to find friends to play with in the snow. A sweet winter story that almost makes me like winter...

[Latifah S Ningrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't like lonely winter stories. However, in this book, winter feels fun. Especially the activity of playing with friends at night under the moonlight, it feels fun until you get sleepy and go back to sleep.

[Summer D Clemenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wake Up Moon! by Lita Judge is a sweet story about animals enjoying the snow and each other. The picturesque illustrations make it easy to grab your attention. Most children will be captivated by this children’s fiction story.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter is a season many critters should be snug in their beds-- but on a moonlit night, even the animals deserve to romp in the snow! Another adorable book from one of my very favorite illustrators.

[Emily Haage · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5+
Sweet, simple text and pretty illustrations. Share this story in the winter.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good one for moon or snow ST. Short sentences with repeating phrase about waking things up in nature.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are top notch in this wintery picture book. The storyline is cute but the text feels it doesn’t flow along very well. The print is large but not a good font.

[S46354595 · Rating 5 out of 5]

fooooooooooooooooooooooox

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big pictures, short text. Would work nicely in a winter/snow theme storytime.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Themes: animals, moon
Ages: preK-1st grade
Pub year: 2024

[Kelly]

I liked the spare text but not as much the text that was very compacted. I really like the illustrations, though.

[Marta-Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable, quick, snowy read-aloud for toddlers.

[Binxie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the cover art and the illustrations. The text stumbles in places but overall, it is a cute book. Going to give it the acid test and use it in storytime.

[TheDiversePhDReads]

Great illustrations but poorly written story.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

These pictures!!!!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations.

[Abbey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasant artwork and a fun story but some of the actions and words felt a little abrupt and abstract in a way that disrupted the story and had us flipping back to check we hadn’t missed a page.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too adorable.