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The Moonball
"It's alive!" cries William, holding the moonball.
"How can it be?" asks Gloria. "It doesn't have any mouth, or eyes, or anything! It's just a furry ball."
"But it is alive," William says. "It's licking my hand!"
Ever since the children first found the mysterious moonball, it has made them happy. But now the Professor has taken the moonball away to study it.
He won't give it back!
And that's how the trouble starts.
"How can it be?" asks Gloria. "It doesn't have any mouth, or eyes, or anything! It's just a furry ball."
"But it is alive," William says. "It's licking my hand!"
Ever since the children first found the mysterious moonball, it has made them happy. But now the Professor has taken the moonball away to study it.
He won't give it back!
And that's how the trouble starts.
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 11, 2018
What mysteries does outer space contain? Most are too far away to investigate or beyond our capacity to comprehend, but one tiny piece of the enigma visits Earth in The Moonball, changing the lives of a group of neighborhood kids. The storm is a peculiar one, ferociously loud with wild lightning and rain. After the skies calm, the local kids discover a furry, warm ball the size of a grapefruit, with no mouth, eyes, or other characteristics of an animal, yet seemingly alive. William Brown, Vicky Foster, the Professor's son (who goes by the nickname "the Pro"), Freddie the Nipper, and their friends are intrigued, but have no idea what the furry ball is. Confident in his father's scientific knowledge, the Pro grabs the "moonball" to show him, which the others reluctantly agree to allow. Maybe he can identify its origin.
William, Vicky, and their friends grow distrustful as the Professor delays checking on the moonball yet refuses to return it. Freddie, no stranger to run-ins with the law, breaks into the Professor's home to take back the moonball, a tactic that goes about as badly as possible. This time the courts sentence him to a school for problem youth. The other kids find a way to retake their moonball from the Professor, and the furry ball almost seems to aid their efforts. Try as the Professor might to get it back, the moonball outwits him; he can't even produce evidence that the children have it, though they pass the moonball among themselves regularly. The kids feel happy in the affectionate object's presence; even Freddie is cheered by it despite his forthcoming punishment. But the moonball must return to outer space sooner or later, and its young friends will have to be content with their memories of it. Having a moonball for a short while is better than never experiencing such excitement.
The narrative has a quirky flow that's not always easy to follow, but The Moonball is a decent choice for kids who like books that hint at magic beyond our understanding yet make it relatable for the duration of the story. We'll never know the mystery behind the moonball, but it's nice to think that unexplainable phenomena can turn out this pleasantly. I might rate The Moonball one and a half stars, and though I won't claim it's great literature, I believe kids will enjoy the read. That's an important part of learning to love books.
William, Vicky, and their friends grow distrustful as the Professor delays checking on the moonball yet refuses to return it. Freddie, no stranger to run-ins with the law, breaks into the Professor's home to take back the moonball, a tactic that goes about as badly as possible. This time the courts sentence him to a school for problem youth. The other kids find a way to retake their moonball from the Professor, and the furry ball almost seems to aid their efforts. Try as the Professor might to get it back, the moonball outwits him; he can't even produce evidence that the children have it, though they pass the moonball among themselves regularly. The kids feel happy in the affectionate object's presence; even Freddie is cheered by it despite his forthcoming punishment. But the moonball must return to outer space sooner or later, and its young friends will have to be content with their memories of it. Having a moonball for a short while is better than never experiencing such excitement.
The narrative has a quirky flow that's not always easy to follow, but The Moonball is a decent choice for kids who like books that hint at magic beyond our understanding yet make it relatable for the duration of the story. We'll never know the mystery behind the moonball, but it's nice to think that unexplainable phenomena can turn out this pleasantly. I might rate The Moonball one and a half stars, and though I won't claim it's great literature, I believe kids will enjoy the read. That's an important part of learning to love books.
February 17, 2014
David Gerrold and Gene Roddenberry should be paying royalties to Ursula Moray Williams.
February 13, 2017
I loved this book when I was a kid, and I just came across my copy the other day. Now I'll have to read it again. I hope it's still as good...
July 29, 2013
Ah, I remember it well. I think I need a moonball.
October 3, 2020
A sudden storm interrupts a cricket match and, while sheltering in a dark shop, the team see a lightning bolt strike the elm on the village green.
Except it wasn't. It was a "moonball" - at least that the name the children give it. None of them are interested in the grubby, muddy thing except for Freddie who takes it home and develops an affinity for the golden, silky globe that, to him, seems warm and alive.
To "the Pro", the Professor's son, it seems like a scruffy cricket ball and he is totally disinterested until his father expresses a desire to see it. By the time a day is up, all the remaining children want to share its discovery because the Professor wants to take it to London - to the British Museum for identification. When he fails to keep his promise to give the moonball back on time, Freddie tries to seal it. Before long, he's in trouble with the police and may even be in line for reform school.
The moonball, meantime, seems to have chameleon qualities as well as a mischievous agenda of its own - one that involves reuniting Freddie's family and showing him who his true friends are.
A heartwarming story that took a chapter or two to settle into. The language of the book seemed a little too "high" at first for a child audience but then it dawned on me that the grade school audience of sixty years ago was much more literate than today. A book from a more innocent age.
Except it wasn't. It was a "moonball" - at least that the name the children give it. None of them are interested in the grubby, muddy thing except for Freddie who takes it home and develops an affinity for the golden, silky globe that, to him, seems warm and alive.
To "the Pro", the Professor's son, it seems like a scruffy cricket ball and he is totally disinterested until his father expresses a desire to see it. By the time a day is up, all the remaining children want to share its discovery because the Professor wants to take it to London - to the British Museum for identification. When he fails to keep his promise to give the moonball back on time, Freddie tries to seal it. Before long, he's in trouble with the police and may even be in line for reform school.
The moonball, meantime, seems to have chameleon qualities as well as a mischievous agenda of its own - one that involves reuniting Freddie's family and showing him who his true friends are.
A heartwarming story that took a chapter or two to settle into. The language of the book seemed a little too "high" at first for a child audience but then it dawned on me that the grade school audience of sixty years ago was much more literate than today. A book from a more innocent age.
April 22, 2021
What a strange and obscure, yet lovable, little book! The Moonball feels like the kind of story that Walt Disney would have made into a live-action movie to air on the Disneyland TV show in the early '60s. It's very simple, sweet, and treats its child characters with a sort of respectful gravity. I don't know how else to explain it, the story just has that same distinctive feel to it.
The mysterious moonball is of course the main draw of the story. It's a fun-loving and sociable creature, but its inexplicable biology keeps it strange enough to be just a bit spooky. The Nipper's story adds even higher stakes and increases the reader's emotional investment in the main storyline.
The ending could have been more clear-cut and satisfying, but I don't object to the mystery being retained. I still have questions, though.
Even without getting all the answers I may have wanted, I really liked The Moonball. It's endearing, eloquent, and enjoyably weird. It's too bad that it has fallen into obscurity, as the moonball and its human friends deserve much better.
The mysterious moonball is of course the main draw of the story. It's a fun-loving and sociable creature, but its inexplicable biology keeps it strange enough to be just a bit spooky. The Nipper's story adds even higher stakes and increases the reader's emotional investment in the main storyline.
The ending could have been more clear-cut and satisfying, but I don't object to the mystery being retained. I still have questions, though.
Even without getting all the answers I may have wanted, I really liked The Moonball. It's endearing, eloquent, and enjoyably weird. It's too bad that it has fallen into obscurity, as the moonball and its human friends deserve much better.
June 12, 2009
The moonball by Ursula Moray Williams (1965), 1st U.S. ed
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews