Sleeping Moon

by David Lewis Atwell, Debby Atwell (Illustrator)

The waning moon in the winter sky makes Cora's arrival at the orphanage even more lonely and frightening. But an unexpected Christmas gift gives Cora the courage to reach out to the other children and begin to make new friends. "The warm, golden glow of the interior scenes contrasts effectively with the ice blue of the snow and the dark purple hues of the cold winter night." -- School Library Journal

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 1994

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Husband and wife team David Lewis Atwell and Debby Atwell, who previously collaborated on The Day Hans Got His Way: A Norwegian Folktale , join forces again in this lovely Christmas picture-book. Newly arrived at an orphanage, Cora seeks comfort in the moon, which her mother had always told her was the place lost things go. When the moon disappears, she seeks out lighthouse-keeper Hiram, who is a friend of the orphanage, hoping he will help her to find it again. His Christmas gift to her, in the form of a small telescope, lets her do just that, and she finds comfort in the fact that while the moon's cycles cause it to disappear from the sky, it is not truly lost...

Truth be told, I found David Atwell's story in Sleeping Moon a bit puzzling, and was left pondering the significance of the moon and its cycles to Nora's sense of loss and grief. It was odd that she would be so surprised and distressed that the moon had 'disappeared,' as a child of her age, particularly one who had regularly observed that heavenly body with her parents, would surely have been aware of its cycles, and the fact that when it was seemingly absent from the sky, it was simply the time of the new moon. Perhaps the reader is meant to think that her grief has somehow robbed of her of this knowledge, or perhaps one is simply meant to suspend one's disbelief. Whatever the case might be, accepting the premise here, it becomes clear that the 'disappearance' of the moon triggers Cora's feelings about the 'disappearance' (AKA death) of her parents, and the moon's cyclical return offers her some reassurance that her parents will always be with her. I'm not sure that the execution of the story idea here is quite convincing, but the idea itself is interesting, and the accompanying artwork from Debby Atwell, done in oil paint, is just beautiful. It is this latter, in fact, that really provided the majority of my reading enjoyment, and I'd recommend this one primarily to fellow admirers of Atwell's luminous folk-style illustrations.