THE MOON REMEMBERS

Human, animal, and plant babies are all connected to the world that exists under the glowing moon each night.

In this warm bedtime story, a brown-skinned baby is born to a tan-skinned mother and a brown-skinned father who already have an older brown-skinned child with curly hair. The poetic text reminds children that the moon is always there, watching over the world and all its inhabitants. “When your mama was a baby, when your daddy was a baby, when your pet cricket was a baby—the moon remembers.” The artwork shows little ones snuggling with, reaching for, and playing with the smiling moon. The moon has been there forever, even welcoming the dinosaurs, and now it welcomes everything from little tomatoes to bunnies, owlets to infants, as it once greeted their parents. Speaking directly to children, the words are soothing and sweet. The soft multimedia illustrations, incorporating monoprint, gouache, watercolor, and collage, appropriately focus on night scenes, with an especially beautiful double-page spread at the end bringing together flora, fauna, and the human family (who are barely discernable), with a moonlit river flowing through the landscape. The endpapers show the phases of the moon, which may spark curiosity to learn about this phenomenon. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Peaceful and reverent, this is a book for all families to share as they cuddle closely together.