the moon inside

With the advent of the supermoon this week, it seemed like the right time to share The Moon Inside.

Ella is scared of the dark and every evening as night creeps into her house, she grows afraid.  Ella's mother intervenes in a gentle way and allays Ella's fears by introducing her to the moon and the serene magic and sounds of the night sky.  A quiet, beautiful and poignant story with soft and gorgeous illustrations—some of the best we've seen this year.

The Moon Inside was written by Sandra V. Feder, illustrated by Aimée Sicuro and published by Groundwood Books.

kinderguides: 2001 a space odyssey

"But please remember: this is only a work of fiction.  The truth, as always, will be far stranger." — Arthur C. Clarke

An introduction for children to the iconic film and book, 2001: A Space Odyssey, from KinderGuides (@kinderguides).  We enjoyed reading this condensed version and appreciated the features on the main characters, key words, quiz questions and analysis.  Sergiy Maidukov's sharp, modern and expressive art is a good fit for the retelling of this sci-fi classic.  When Avery and Nate are ready to watch/read Arthur C. Clarke's epic story in its entirety, it's great that they'll have been front-loaded with this simplified version, which will give them a foundation to further explore the enigma and nuances of his original work.

lots

It took a while to get our hands on Marc Martin's latest wonder, LOTS, but we're  elated that it finally made its way to us.  LOTS is tremendous in beauty, scope and vision.  Its pages are immersive and offer a collection of unusual facts about different places around the world.

We loved stopping in Hong Kong and experiencing all the jade and goldfish markets, the double-decker trams, the bubble tea and the dim sum carts.  In Reykjavik, we were intrigued by the northern lights, the migration of the Arctic terns and the myriad of Icelandic sauces including a mustard with a complicated name.

It is truly a book about (almost) everything, for everyone.

LOTS was written and illustrated by Marc Martin and published by Viking Books.

listen! listen!

What does a noise sound like?  What is its shape?  What is its color?  Beautiful words from Ann Rand reminding us to tune in to the sounds around us—the sounds that make up our world, from the clanging and dissonant to the quiet and meditative.  The crunch, crunch of buttered toast.  Paul Rand uses modern and bold papercut shapes  to depict the energy and sensations of these sounds.  Let us remember to stop in our tracks every once in a while, engage our senses and listen to the snow and the whisper of the trees.

Listen! Listen! is by Ann and Paul Rand and published by Princeton Architectural Press.

the land of nod

"From breakfast on through all the day 

At home among my friends I stay, 

But every night I go abroad 

Afar into the land of Nod."

Robert Hunter's new illustrated version of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Land of Nod is, needless to say, dreamy.  His ethereal palette of sleepy-eyed soft pinks and blues evoke a perpetual twilight that gives its pages an exotic but familiar feel.  In Stevenson's poem, an ailing boy spends all day stuck at home, which seems to be reflective of the poet's own childhood.  At night, he crosses over to the Land of Nod, a dreamland where his playthings come to life in a big way.

Robert Hunter has created a fantastic, curious, mischievous but elusive world that we've oft imagined and tried to remember in the morning while wiping the sleep from our eyes.  There is a certain magic distilled in the words of Stevenson's poem which Robert Hunter's stunning visual storytelling has brought to life once more, for a whole new set of young readers.

The Land of Nod is by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Hunter (@roberthunter) and published by Flying Eye Books.