LITTLE MOON DOG

Fairies and exotic landscapes rendered with Rackham-esque depth illustrate this handsomely designed tale of a pet who falls among risky friends. Though the Man in the Moon has nailed his mailbox shut and battened down the hatches in response to the arrival of an annual busload of fairy tourists, his bored little dog slips out to play—and soon finds himself abandoned, very far from home. A rotund, bookish old gent with stars in his flyaway hair and beard, the Man in the Moon soon finds it a bit too quiet, and so sets out to track down his wayward companion. Tiny, appropriately mischievous-looking fairies in country dress flit through scenes washed in pale gold and rich in textured swirls of fine natural detail. The episode is rescued from blandness by the fairies’ hijinks, which range from unwinding “moonbeans” to “swapping around seeds to unsettle the spring.” Young children will pore over the art, cheer at the climactic happy reunion and take Ward’s point that “there is nothing quite so NASTY as a fickle FAIRY and nothing quite so NICE as a faithful FRIEND.” (Picture book. 6-8)