THE MOON MAN
by Gerda Marie Scheidl & translated by J. Alison James & illustrated by Wilkon
An engaging fantasy about a cheery, moon-faced figure that slips from a picture little Marion has drawn and hung above her bed and goes out into the night. Although a cat points out that ``Only the real moon can shine,'' burglars try to use the Moon Man for a light; thinking he's the real moon, a fisherman takes him home; at the zoo, he uses his paper-thin fingers to unlock cages; and a giraffe sets him on a mountain where he meets the real moon and is burnished with star dust so that when he goes back to Marion's picture he has a gentle glow. These adventures, developed with a childlike logic, are gracefully recounted in James's excellent translation. Wilk¢n sets the action in a lush and lovely dream world; his smiling, pink-cheeked Moon Man is charming. (Picture book. 4-8)