Synopses & Reviews
The Moon Shines Down
by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
Forgotten for decades in a dusty, tucked-away trunk, The Moon Shines Down brings to life once more the unmistakable voice of Margaret Wise Brown. This soon-to-be classic allows a whole new generation of children to discover, cherish, and enjoy the artistry of this beloved author.
Never before published, The Moon Shines Down on children all over the world from right next door to across the sea, from where a Dutch boy dreams and cowbells ring to across the sea in the Far, Far East, through the familiar prayer:
I see the Moon
And the Moon sees me.
God bless the Moon,
And God bless me.
Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952) was a pioneer of children's literature, choosing to write the stories that children wanted to hear-rather than those that grown-ups wanted to tell. She is best known for her now classic Good Night Moon and Runaway Bunny, which remain among the world's best-selling children's books.
Margaret was a prolific writer, and, at the peak of her career, she had over 100 books in print. Her untimely death left numerous manuscripts and ideas behind in various stages of completion. After a time, these were tucked away in a cedar trunk and largely forgotten. It is from this forgotten trunk that The Moon Shines Down was rescued.
Illustrator Linda Bleck began her artistic career as a child, drawing on rolls of old blueprint paper supplied by her architect father. Later, she helped her mother, a freelance illustrator for Hallmark, paint in the details of her intricate drawings. Linda's work has appeared in The NewYorker, Time Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. She is also the writer and illustrator of the Pepper the Dog series, which won the National Parenting Publication Award.
Linda and her family now live in southern Wisconsin . . . where the moon shines down on them, one and all.
The Story Behind the Lost Manuscript . . .
The Moon Shines Down
from MARGARET WISE BROWN,
the Author of Goodnight Moon
The Moon Shines Down is being published for the first time 56 years after the death of the beloved children's author Margaret Wise Brown.
Amazingly, this unpublished manuscript lay incomplete and forgotten in a cedar trunk in a Vermont barn. When it was discovered, the onionskin paper had yellowed and the paperclips that held the pages together had rusted. Children's book publisher, Laura Minchew, a longtime fan of Brown, took on the challenge to complete the work.
Based on the New England Sampler prayer, God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me, this soon-to-be bedtime classic is a prayer for God's blessing on all the world's children.
Synopsis
From the lost manuscripts of renowned children's author Brown, this bedtime story is based on the classic New England Sampler prayer, God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me. The poetic verse of the text shows a child praying for God's blessing on children in different parts of the world and themselves as the moon shines down on them all.
Synopsis
From the lost manuscripts of the beloved author of "Goodnight Moon" comes a bedtime story based on the classic prayer, God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me. Full color.
Synopsis
Has the moon ever followed you home at night?
Max loves his grandpa. When they must say good-bye after a visit, Grandpa reminds Max that the moon above them at Grandpa’s house is the same moon that will follow him all the way home. And on that swervy-curvy car ride back home Max smiles as the moon tags along, thinking of Grandpa. But when the sky darkens and the moon disappears behind clouds, Max worries that it did not follow him home after all. Yet when the clouds part and light streams through his window, he realizes that Grandpa was right—the moon was with him all along.
Floyd Cooper received the Coretta Scott King Award for The Blacker the Berry, two Coretta Scott King Honors for Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land, and an NAACP image award. His books have also been named to numerous best books list and been given many Parents Choice Awards. In Max and the Tag-Along Moon, his lush paintings perfectly capture the wonder of the moon, the love between grandfather and grandson, and that feeling of magic every child experiences when the moon follows him home.
Synopsis
Has the moon ever followed you home at night?
Max loves his grandpa. When they must say good-bye after a visit, Grandpa reminds Max that the moon above them at Grandpa’s house is the same moon that will follow him all the way home. And on that swervy-curvy car ride back home Max smiles as the moon tags along, thinking of Grandpa. But when the sky darkens and the moon disappears behind clouds, Max worries that it did not follow him home after all. Yet when the clouds part and light streams through his window, he realizes that Grandpa was right—the moon was with him all along.
Floyd Cooper received the Coretta Scott King Award for The Blacker the Berry, two Coretta Scott King Honors for Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land, and an NAACP image award. His books have also been named to numerous best books list and been given many Parents Choice Awards. In Max and the Tag-Along Moon, his lush paintings perfectly capture the wonder of the moon, the love between grandfather and grandson, and that feeling of magic every child experiences when the moon follows him home.
About the Author
Floyd Cooper (www.floydcooper.com) started drawing when he was three years old and has never stopped. He was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and graduated with a degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma. He is the award-winning illustrator of more than 60 books.