Moonbear Boxed Set

Moonbear #1

by Frank Asch

Moonbear loves the moon in all of her phases

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction

16 pages, Board book

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Frank Asch is an American children's writer, best known for his Moonbear picture books.

Asch published his first picture book, George's Store, in 1968. The following year he graduated from Cooper Union with a BFA. Since then he has taught at a public school in India, as well as at a Montessori school in the United States, conducted numerous creative workshops for children. He has written over 60 books, including Turtle Tale, Mooncake, I Can Blink and Happy Birthday Moon. In 1989 he wrote Here Comes the Cat! in collaboration with Vladimir Vagin. The book was awarded the Russian National Book Award and was considered the first Russian-American collaboration on a children's book.

Asch lived in Somerville, New Jersey where he and his wife home-schooled their son Devin.

He currently lives in Vermont with his wife, Jan.

Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrations: I found this book visually striking. I was reminded of comics/graphic novels in the panel approach to showing the growth and diminishment of the moon. The limited color palette worked well with the sparse narration, but could never leave the illustration described as simplistic. I lack the vocabulary to describe the intricate pen and ink swirls that make up the night skies in which are often hidden shapes and images.

Words: I was impressed with the thematic complexity this book achieved given, as I've said, its narration is sparse and makes use of very basic vocabulary. It stands in sharp contrast to "The Giving Tree" which has received criticism for its apparent endorsement of toxic, self-destructive, self-sacrifice for others. This book introduces the reality that love is often illogical and causes us to not always keep our own interests balanced with the interests of those we love. However, the book also ends with the important message that love does not necessarily require need: love can be freely given without the expectation of reward. This offers an important assurance to children who are not in a position to repay love shown to them, even while it does show that love should lead us to want to help others.

**I'm a PhD student in Eng Lit who will become a mom in 1 month and I'm reviewing books based on the criteria I know for books, not based on how my kids react to them. I may come back and edit reviews to reflect the opinion of child audiences for whom these books were intended**

[Mary]

Bear loves the moon and is distressed when he notices that each night the moon is getting smaller. Bear worries that the moon is not eating enough so he begins leaving out his honey for the moon to eat. Bear believes it is helping because the moon is getting bigger and doesn't realize that the birds have been eating his honey. Fortunately, a helpful bird lets Bear know what is really happening. A sweet story about generosity that will also be a good starting point to talk about the waxing and waning of the moon.

". . . for the first time he really saw the moon. It was love at first sight."

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Bear really noticed the moon for the first time he loved it so much right away. Every night he admired it, but as it grew smaller he worried it would disappear and never return. He didn't know it goes through phases, and tried to help.
This story still holds its charm, and is nicely illustrated.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Moon Bear (later known, cleverly, as "Moonbear."

Reading the very same book, at no additional charge, you Goodreaders can also meet the moon.

* Sweetly funny
* Childlike
* Child-sized thinking
* And no edge at all

No wonder this adorable book began a whole series of beloved picture books. I'm a FIVE-STAR-giving fan.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bear is so worried bout the moon shrinking that he stops eating and starts to shrink himself. Can bear find a way to get healed? Elementary and up

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0npd...

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphics are old school minimal, as is the story. Bear loves the moon when he first sees it, but worries as the moon appears to be shrinking. He starves himself in order to provide the moon with honey, which in reality the neighboring birds are eating. In the end a kindly bird lets Bear in on it that the moon shrinks and grows on its own, and it is the birds eating the honey. Bear returns to eating the honey but is sad that the moon doesn't need him any more. The birds, however, do.

What a cute and touching story. I love books featuring the moon. They calm me. This is a winner.

[Yoo Kyung Sung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of having a theory.. Why is the moon smaller than yesterday? May be I need to feed him. As the bear's honey bowl is emptied, the moon is growing larger.. The bear lost his honey and his body grew to be thin. We all have some kind of theories with our observation of things we see and think about it. It is a nice way to talk about "theory" in our life.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a childhood story of mine so I'm reading it with fresh (adult) eyes. Would pair well with Kitten's First Full Moon.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reissue of the classic picture book originally published in 1978.

[Tracy Mabry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweeeeeet!