Sunday, October 25, 2020

Review - A Kite for Moon

A Kite for Moon

by Jane Yolen & Heidi E. Y. Stemple
illustrated by Matt Phelan
Date: 2019
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

A Kite for Moon, written by New York Times bestselling author of How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Jane Yolen and her daughter, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, tells a heartfelt story about a young boy's fascination and unlikely friendship with the moon. With whimsical illustrations by award-winning artist Matt Phelan, the story begins when the little boy, who is flying his kite, notices a sad Moon. He sends up kites to her, even writing notes to Moon promising he will come see her someday. This promise propels him through years and years of studying, learning, and training to be an astronaut! Dedicated to Neil Armstrong, and a perfect children's book to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first United States moon landing, the cover of this book will captivate readers with eye-catching spot UV, foil, and embossing.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

A Kite for Moon starts off fine, but I expected more of an emotional punch. Moon is lonely as she looks down at Earth. A little boy notices that she's sad and sends kites up to her to cheer her up. As he grows, he studies science and eventually becomes an astronaut so that he can actually pay Moon a visit.

The illustrations are cute, but the story is very sparse. It would work in a classroom as an introduction to a unit on the space program. However, as a book for pure reading enjoyment, it falls a little flat.

Kids who are really interested in space will likely be underwhelmed by this. Find them a good non-fiction book instead.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.67 out of 5

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