Mooncake

Moonbear #3

by Frank Asch

Bear would like to take a bite out of the moon. But how does the moon taste? Bear builds a rocket to find out.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Space, Food, Fantasy

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

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

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking in the library catalog for Pavese's El bello verano. They hadn't got the Italian novel about adolescent loss of innocence and subsequent disillusionment, and recommended this picture book about a bear eating cake instead.

It was a nice book for younger children. I didn't especially enjoy it, but I can see it working for a three year old. That's probably the right age to enjoy feeling smarter and more with-it than the bear protagonist, who falls asleep before blasting off in his rocket ship, wakes to see a white landscape of snow, and thinks he has made it to his lunar destination.

I admired the bear's dedication (he spent months building that spacecraft!) and was glad that he was pleased with the outcome of his endeavor. Maybe the message is, if your friends are happy in their errors, don't disillusion them?

Since I have not yet read Pavese's novel, I can't say what this story has in common with the one I wanted to order. Maybe they both have "seasons" marked as a key word, or something simplistic like that. I'll update if I ever figure it out.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

*contains spoilers*

In this book, Asch tackles many subjects: ambition, fear of the unknown, conflict with one's biological urges, xenophobia, and duty. Bear's devotion to his goals leads him to overcome fear of the unknown and attempt to head to the moon. His friend Little Bird cannot participate, for he has obligations to help lead his flock's annual migration. Bear continues on without his friend, only to succumb to his body's demand for hibernation. Bear believes he makes it to the moon and samples the dirt; he finds it tasty. However, the sight of his own footprints in the winter snow convinces him of the presence of a moon monster (obviously he is delirious due to an early awakening from hibernation.) In the books gripping conclusion, Bear recounts his adventure to the returning Little Bird.

This book was a staple of my childhood. It taught me many lessons. Sadly, my copy is missing a page, but the illustration helps me remember what happened on the missing page.

[Ghazaal B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I also want a bite. :(

[Nils James Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several times every year since my childhood. I love the dream. I love the explorer. I love the journey of building and construction. I love his critical friend. Simple yet inspired, this book is something I cherish.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story a lot and so did my 5 year old, even though it might be aimed at slightly younger children. I love how Bear perseveres in his quest to get to the moon, despite Little Bird's discouragement.

This edition is kind of crappy though. OK, it's really old and beat up, but the colors are all weird, a little washed out and the definition of the illustrations is terrible, very fuzzy...

[Danielle]

I'm late to them, but am loving Frank Asch's books.

[Luis Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts with Bear and Bird one night looking at the moon. Bird mentions that he is hungry and bear is also hungry, and then he reveals his deepest Desiree to eat the moon. Bird and Bear talk about what the moon might taste like, and if it is even possible. They both go to Bears house and Bear gets his bow and arrow. Bear ties a spoon at the end and shoots it at the moon, but fails. Then Bear decides he is going to build a rocket. When he finishes building the rocket it is the start of winter, and Bird migrates to the south, and Bear gets in his rocket. He then falls asleep in the rocket and Bear is then woken up and thinks he is at the moon. Bear then eats what he believes is the moon, and he likes it. He goes back in the rocket and falls asleep and wakes up back on earth and bird asks how it was and Bear says it was delicious.

The picture book was written in in 1987 by Frank Asch. The visuals look like they were created using construction paper, similar to how south park is animated. In the beginning the story text was written on the left of the book by itself and the pictures were on the right side. As the story progressed the text slowly moved towards the middle under the pictures, then finally at the end it moved to the right and mirrored the beginning of the story. Only the picture is on the right and the text is on the right. This is very similar to where the wild things are, when the pictures first start off small then get bigger as the story progresses. Personally I felt the story needed more action, I found it kinda boring and to simple of a story good visuals, So 3 stars.

[Samantha Ocampo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book was an imaginative story of the bear and the little bird who want to taste the moon so they set out to make a rocket ship to get there. When the bear falls asleep in it and wakes up in the snow he thinks he has landed on the moon and tries the snow, which he likes! He does not know the difference so he is doing one thinking but thinking another about what he is doing. This is a funny little story for young readers who want to follow along their to see how and when their rocket ship was made and how the bear got to the moon. The illustrations in it are very simplistic, as there are few colors the illustrator uses throughout it. However, even though it is very simple, he is sure to have the bear and rocket ship always pop within the page so you can always see where they are within the book. This helps children follow along with what the characters are doing.

[Morley Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seemingly simplistic story is perfect for children of younger ages. The drawings are in a cartoon style with solid colours throughout which makes the character of Bear an enjoyable and adorable protagonist. Also, his friend, Little Bird, wears a hat that visually helps humanise him and make him relatable to a younger audience. This artistic choice helps develop an understanding of various perspectives and relating protagonists to themselves. Their quest to find out what the moon tastes like sets Bear on a period of persistent space rocket building which teaches the lesson of perseverance. When Bear believes that he has landed on the moon without realising that he is in fact experiencing snow for the first time shows that the rewards of goals are not always as they seem but that does not necessarily detract from the enjoyable experience.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One night, when Bear and his friend, Little Bird, are watching the moon, Bear feels hungry and wishes he could take a bite out of the moon. He’s certain it would taste delicious, but Little Bird isn’t so sure. So Bear tries to get a taste of the moon by using his bow and arrow to shoot a spoon toward the moon. But the moon is too far away. So Bear decides to build a rocket ship.

Will Bear get to the moon? And what will he think about the taste of the moon?

A beloved classic, this is a perfect bedtime story for parents and young children to share. It’s delightfully silly in a way that young children appreciate and the underlying theme of friendship is an important one for all children to learn.

Highly recommended.

[Jacelyn Neuleib]

"Mooncake" finds Bear interested in the night sky again. This time, Bear looks up at the moon and begins to wonder what it tastes like. He makes a plan to shoot a spoon into the sky using a bow and arrow, but he can't reach the moon. Next, Bear decides that he will build a space ship in order to taste the moon. He works on his space ship all autumn long. When it comes time to fly to the moon, Bear gets inside his rocket and falls asleep, as Bears do in late fall. Bear wakes up to find that he is surrounded by white powder and assumes he is on the moon. Bear tastes a spoon full of "moon" and decides that it is indeed delicious. Bear falls back asleep inside of the rocket and wakes in spring to believe he has tasted the moon.

[Aaron Fontes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is okay. The plot is sufficiently quaint about a bear who wants to go to the moon, but this plot I find to be a bit too cluttered to be sufficiently whimsical for a children's book. I don't think it helps that the illustrations are rather pedestrian as well. Never mind the fact that the dense wordiness subtracts from the included images, but said images are mainly just flat colors lacking a lot of interesting depth. Comboed with the fact that there are multiple instances where assets like faces are reused, this picture book, while perfectly inoffensive, doesn't really excel in either the textual or illustrative areas.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that the book seemed very nice, and that the illustrations as well was very well put together. This book had a very soft and chill vibe to it as well and it was because of the color scheme that was chosen for the book as well. It was in a way a mixture of soft colors such as browns, and red Hughes as well. This story is showing us a bear who is trying to achieve their goal by reaching the moon and tasting the moon as well. It shows kids that they can work hard and achieve their goal, even if they don't really achieve it, as long as they feel that they have tried hard enough.

[Anysa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the personification that was given to the characters specially the bird. I really enjoyed the part where he gives the bear the idea of the rocket-ship. I see in a way that it lets children know that even though birds can fly they also have a limit to where they can go. This book is too innocent and has a lot of pureness to it that I would love to share with my students because of the bears character.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moonbear thinks the Moon would taste delicious, but when he ties a spoon to an arrow, he isn't able to reach the Moon to find out. So Moonbear builds a rocket ship and climbs in to head to the Moon -- but instead falls asleep. He awakes mid-Winter and tastes what he believes to be the Moon, then takes another snooze until Spring. Simple and timeless with clear graphics, this is a clever read-aloud that will spark storytime discussions.

[Savannah Mendez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought Mooncake was straight to the point, it needed a little more to make the story interesting. there wasn't anything too exciting or captured my attention. the ending needed more, I found it odd that it ended on the moon was delicious. The story is good for beginners in reading, the story isn't complex and is very straight forward, the illustrations depict the situation well and show was the bear is doing while on his journey.

[Jacqueline Benitez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. The bear and the little bird in this story plan to make a rocket ship to go taste the moon. Children's imagination in this book is huge. The illustrations in this book are very simple and there are not to many colors; however, the author does make the bear and rocket ship stand out. The narrator in this story would be the children. They are reading and imagining everything the bear is describing.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, although I wonder if even Bear would be unable to differentiate snow from dirt. I do wish it had made a little more clear that Bear was hibernating, which is why he slept so long and without awareness. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense. Overall, it's cute enough, but not up to the standard set by some of the other titles in the series.

[McCall DiLorenzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooncake is an entertaining book for beginning readers that tells a story of a bear that goes on an adventure to taste the moon. The images are creative and pull the reader into the story. They are simple but I liked how when the characters are having a conversation, the illustration changes to the shape of a circle. It gave a nice break from the square borders the other images have.

[Ailsa Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mooncake" by Frank Asch is a portrait picture book that has simplistic illustrations and easy-to-read font. It was a lovely story of a bear and a bird attempting to reach the moon in order to get a taste and figure out whether it is tasty or not. The bear ended up hibernating in the winter and confusing the snow with the moon. It was very simple and comedic story.

[Greg Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a different story that took a different turn than I thought. I thought this book was going to talk about Chinese moon cakes. Instead it actually talked about eating the moon. I thought that the characters had interesting challenges with fighting hibernation and building a spaceship. Sort of a weird but nice turn. I loved the kind of misleading title.

[Shannon]

My favorite of Frank Asch's bear books, and probably my daughter's as well. The plot is really clever and well-constructed (with Bear waking up after a snowfall and thinking his rocket ship has taken him to the moon). I love the quiet feeling and the bold colors of the art. Every Asch book isn't a winner, but this one is.

[Siena DeHerrera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was good for a little kid because of the teddy bear and the little bird, but I did not really think much of this one. I think it was a cute story, but I did not really see the significance of this book.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 35 years as a Children’s Librarian, Frank Asch was one of the authors whose books I used regularly at storytimes. The children enjoyed the bright bold pictures and the simple story. Bear’s interactions with the Moon were a lot of fun.

[Amy Jarett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Moonbear series. Moonbear's ideas are impossible but he doesn't know it. He always resolves the puzzle in the end and gives the reader so much satisfaction. I strive to write like Frank Asch.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this was read to us in school, but it was in third grade and not kindergarten. The teacher was close to retirement and probably saw us all as babies. I did enjoy the story very much though, better than good night moon actually!

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that is a solid picture book- cute, absurd; truly and utterly illogical. Also- features a bird in a hat.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, simple book good for preschoolers.

[Miss Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book when I was a child.

[Tracyp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic