IMPOSSIBLE MOON

If Mable can touch the moon, what else might she be able to do?

Mable, presenting as Black with long brown hair, has always loved the stories Grana tells her. However, Grana is now sick, and “it seems impossible she will ever get better.” One day, while Mable pores over her “moon maps,” Grana notes that if human beings can reach the moon, then nothing is impossible. That night, Mable dreams of flying to the moon. She launches from her bed-turned-trampoline and sails through the night sky. There, she sees a drinking gourd, a lion, a giant dog, a set of twins, a man pouring water, an archer who shoots her toward the moon, and a group of seven sisters who comfort her when she just misses it. When she wakes up, Mable tells Grana about her journey. Grana, now sitting up in bed when it was impossible before, tells Mable what a great storyteller she is. Encouraged by Grana’s step toward recovery, Mable goes to bed that night determined to finally touch the moon and perhaps make the impossible possible for Grana. Engel’s vivid, textured illustrations are spectacular. The stunning washes of blue, violet, aqua, pink, and gold play well with the dreamy theme. The backmatter consists of an author’s note about the impetus for the book and a description of the seven constellations depicted therein. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Black girl magic to the moon and back.