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Nini

One Lighthouse, One Moon

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Here, in one book, are the days of the week, the months of the year, the four seasons, the basic colors, and an exciting counting adventure -- all conceived, staged, and presented by the incomparable Anita Lobel. You can savor each of the three stories separately or think of them as three acts in one play. However you do it, a standing ovation is guaranteed! 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2000 (NY Times Book Review) 01 Riverbank Review Magazine's Children's Books of Distinction Award Nominations

48 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2000

4 people are currently reading
78 people want to read

About the author

Anita Lobel

81 books30 followers
Anita Lobel is an illustrator of children's books. Her memoir that depicts her childhood of flight and imprisonment in Nazi-occupied Poland, ''No Pretty Pictures'' was a finalist for the National Book Award.

She has also received the Caldecott Honor Medal.

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5 stars
27 (16%)
4 stars
65 (40%)
3 stars
53 (32%)
2 stars
15 (9%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Rose Rosetree.
Author 15 books477 followers
May 12, 2023
Such an ambitious concept for a picture book:

* Making this a chapter book.
* Delivering knowledge about the days of the week
* Also, the months of the year
* And the four seasons
* Plus the basic colors
* And also teaching about numbers.

Definitely, Anita Loebel delivers. So FIVE STARS for her.

Personally, I wonder, what's the rush? Even as an ID-card-carrying adult, all the content in this book makes me feel a little dizzy, as though somebody put me through a light drying cycle in my clothes dryer.

Personally, I believe that for children -- particularly young children -- less is more. But that's just me.
Profile Image for Aolund.
1,765 reviews19 followers
April 17, 2019
Very sweet illustrations well-populated by cats fill this "anthology" picture book. The first section, "All Week Long," moves through the days of the week with illustrations of a different-colored pair of shoes for each day. "Nini's Year" shows the cat Nini's various experiences through the months of the year. The final section "One Lighthouse, One Moon," is a sea-side counting story moving from one to ten and then vastly outward, to "One hundred stars and one moon lit up the sky." Profound in an quiet, everyday sort of way.
Profile Image for Miss Pippi the Librarian.
2,750 reviews60 followers
November 6, 2018
One Lighthouse, One Moon is a picture book with three short stories. I read the final story "One Lighthouse, One Moon" during storytime. It is a counting story from 1-10. The previous tales include "All Week Long" which features days of the week and "Nini's Year" which features months of the year.

2018 storytime theme: lighthouses

Reviewed from a library copy.
Profile Image for Janet.
3,691 reviews37 followers
October 12, 2023
This title does have combined illustrations for colors and days of the week, illustrations for months of the year, and illustrators for numbers to ten. Copyright 2000 these painting illustrations were rendered in watercolor and gouache. Lots of exquisite detail, but not overly busy for young eyes.
Profile Image for Izabella Bensing.
75 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2023
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
PreK-K Reading Level

This book was very confusing to me, it was set up like a chapter book but the three parts were all separate stories. It had one cohesive character throughout it. I did enjoy the illustrations, and it had a sweet feel.
Profile Image for Carmen.
9 reviews
July 13, 2017
Bright big pictures and I've learned the days of the week, colors, months and numbers. Nice!
Profile Image for superawesomekt.
1,636 reviews52 followers
February 8, 2019
3.5 stars

This mini-anthology assembles 3 picture book stories in one, each with an emphasis on numbers, colors, etc. Good for a very young child. The illustrations are charming,
Profile Image for Lexi.
632 reviews10 followers
July 15, 2020
Beautiful pictures but the book makes no sense.
1,040 reviews4 followers
November 13, 2021
A visual delight! 3 tales, lots of beautiful illustrations with a cat in almost every one!
Profile Image for Meagan.
575 reviews1 follower
Read
February 26, 2025
This book emphasizes colors, days of the week, and numbers for the benefit of young children. Beautiful illustrations.
Profile Image for MaryMargaret Fuller.
37 reviews
February 22, 2015
I liked this book when i first read it but i didn't understand it until the second time i read through it. I realized it was from the cats view, named Nini, looking at the colored shoes each day of the week that I'm assuming her owner wears and then what happens during each month of the year that Nini the cat had happen to her. I don't think this book has much of a plot or purpose really.

It is colorful and the words are really big so it is super easy to read. this could be a good picture book for preschool-1st grade. The pictures are cool to look at but there is not plot. It would be a good book to practice reading. it has the primary colors in it in bold and outlined in the actual color and then the months are bolded and capitalized so it could help teach students the months and colors or at least help to expose them to those things.

This is a good book to read aloud in the classroom but also to just have in the classroom so during free time the kids could pick it up and just look through it which would be helpful too. The language in this is really simple and easy. not much vocabulary that is difficult so its a good starter book for kids learning to read because it is so simple. This book doesn't really have a particular genre, it is just a regular picture book about what a cat sees throughout the day or year.

This book would be a good discussion to talk about what the cat sees on "Mondays" or "Tuesdays" and what happened to the cat in the month of "august" or "September" and that will help the students to start identifying those things and what they see in the pictures.
58 reviews1 follower
January 31, 2017
The book is about the life of a cat who lives by the sea. There are three sections of this book. The first depicts how a girl who lives with the cat wear a certain color of shoes on each given day of the week. The second "chapter" if you will, gives a one-sentence description of what the cat does each month. The last part of the book describes things that the cat sees around her and how many there is of said feature.
This book left me feeling very relaxed. the subject matter was really cute. I loved the outfits that the girl wore. At first, i honestly thought it was about the girl, then I noticed that in every single picture there was a cat! I also just love the nautical feel of the story's location. I don't know why, but I've always loved lighthouses! I also thought it was interesting and refreshingly unique that the author depicted the setting at the end of the book.
This book is an excellent tool to teach children colors, months of the year, and numbers in a more subtle way. The author sneaks school lessons within a sweet tale of a cat named Nina.
22 reviews1 follower
Read
June 23, 2011
This book has 3 chapters- one for the days of the week, one for months of the year, and one for counting. To use in a Kindergarten/1st grade classroom, read the chapter during the corresponding portion of the unit. A class bag book would go well with this book. Have students write a sentence and illustrate what they do during a certain month of the year or day of the week. For example “_Specials_ on Monday; _Spanish Class_ on Tuesday” or “In JANUARY we had a snow day; in FEBRUARY it is Valentine’s Day,” etc. Then, discuss why the days of the week/months of the year are an important tool for measuring time. The paper in the bag book can be colored as a scaffold to accompany the days of the week in the book (to go with the black shoes on Monday, red shoes on Tuesday, etc.).
43 reviews
Read
February 1, 2017
This book was broken up into 3 different sections. the first section was talking about the days of the week and what color shoes the girl wore. the second section was about all the months in the year and what the cat did every month. the third section was about a lighthouse and counting things that a lighthouse would see throughout the day.

I enjoyed this book because I could be very interactive with kids

I would use this in my class to help kids remember the days of the week, the months of the year, and be able to count to 10.
40 reviews1 follower
November 28, 2012
This book is about a household cat and the world around him. This book teaches children about colors, the days of the week, the months of the year, and counting.

I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting way of informing children about these topics.

I would use this book with young children to introduce them to colors, numbers, days of the week, and months of the year. This book would be a fun way to increase my students' knowledge of these areas.
39 reviews
December 4, 2013
I think this book would draw students to it because it has a cat on the front of it. It is good to catch childrens attention. Throughout the book, it discusses how to count months, identify colors, and identify the different seasons. I think it has a lot of information throughout the book, which is good for children. I would include it in my classroom.
Profile Image for Samantha Zapata.
75 reviews
September 9, 2016
Even though this book was three stories in one. I loved it because it teaches the months of the year. It teaches the days of the week along with colors. OH! It even teaches number counting. This book literally has it all and it would be great for preschoolers or even kindergartener's to brush up on their skills. Interesting read!
Profile Image for Josiah.
3,488 reviews158 followers
September 7, 2009
This is a nice, simple educational story with value in both the words and pictures. Anita Lobel excels at this type of book, and shows it here. I would likely give one and a half stars for "One Lighthouse, One Moon".
Profile Image for Paul.
1,893 reviews
October 7, 2012
The predominant character throughout is a cat, so this has a little feeling of cute, but the book is very nicely illustrated with three chapters allocated to days of the week, months of the year, and counting from one to ten. Simple, oversize text in Adobe Catull is very pleasing.
Profile Image for Alice.
4,306 reviews36 followers
December 10, 2014
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting! It is a 3 chapter very basic counting book. I enjoyed the pictures and the story are basic. While a counting book it is also a months of the year and colors book...Kind of complete package all rolled into one! Nicely done!
Profile Image for Stefanie.
29 reviews
April 15, 2013
Short and sweet with great illustrations that are very reminiscent of New England.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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