Author: Mike Thaler
Illustrator: Ursula Arndt
Macmillan Company (1966)
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me
Eric Carle
Little Simon (1986)
In our family we say, "I love you to the moon and back again."
I always notice the depiction of the moon in children's books. It's amazing the multitude of ways that one can draw a moon. In common, the moon is this twinkling, friendly object that keeps our children safe at night. The moon is comforting, sweet and protecting.
The Prince and The Seven Moons is extra special because it was given to me by my Nana when I was a child. Since both my grandmas died before I was twelve, any surviving thing from either of them has an extra special place in my heart.
The story is about a prince who is looking out the window of his castle asking people passing by what they know about the moon. The merchant thinks the moon is a golden dollar, the baker thinks it's a pie, the young kid thinks it's a balloon. The illustrations are pen and ink drawings with the object--balloon, pie, golden dollar-- in bright yellow. In the end, the princess teaches the prince about the moon as they picnic under it.
The author Mike Thaler is known as The Riddle King. See for yourself: http://www.mikethaler.com/biography.htm. I can't find too much information though on this book which was obviously one of his earliest.
There's not too much out there on Ursala Arndt either, only that she has illustrated many a children book.
My other favorite and fun moon books is Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me. This is a multi-dimensional book with pages that unfold to reveal ladders, mountains, and moons.
I surely will profile Eric Carle in future posts, but suffice it to say for now that his books go outside the box in terms of form-- folding pages, moving pages, holes in pages, sliding boxes. Here's some grade school ideas on the activities associated with the book that you may be able to tweak to be appropriate for preschoolers. http://www.eric-carle.com/bb-papa.html
No comments:
Post a Comment