MOON’S CLOUD BLANKET

St. Romain, in her first published work, shows that she is a master storyteller with this Native American legend from Louisiana. During a flood, a woman and her children seek refuge in the giant cypress trees of the bayou. High in the branches the three cling together for warmth as night arrives and the moon comes out. Fearing that they will freeze to death, the woman implores the moon to help them, and she does. By drawing clouds near her and weaving all night, the moon fashions the most fragile of blankets with which to cover the family and keeps them warm until the flood finally recedes and the family is able to go home. Over the years, the moon’s blanket is taken to other locations and becomes known as Spanish moss. No documentation is given for Waites’s depiction of furry-looking garments and shoes worn by each of the family members or for the palmetto hut depicted as round, but without the willow or cypress poles normally thought to have supported the rounded roof of palmetto fronds and grass rope. While this is a straightforward telling that will engage the reader over and over again, the watercolor illustrations, while adequate, are not of the same stellar quality. An optional purchase for most libraries. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)