Long Night Moon

If you love walking at night, in the woods, fields, meadows and mountains like I do, you are going to love this work. Using the wonderful lyrical, almost mystic words of Cynthia Rylant, the artist Mark Siegel has given us some truly amazing visuals that are absolutely haunting. This book was written for children but is as enchanting for adults as it is for the little ones. I cannot imagine a book better suited to read to a child before bed. Ms. Rylant has taken the custom of Native Americans and given a name to each full moon, one for each month of the year. They include: January the Stormy Moon February the Snow Moon March the Sap Moon April the Sprouting Grass Moon May the Flower Moon June the Strawberry Moon July the Thunder Moon August the Harvest Moon September the Coon Moon October the Acorn Moon November the Frost Moon December the Long Night Moon The artist, Mark Siegel and drawn wonderful representations, taken from nature; from the out of doors, and given us twelve charcoal renderings and impressions of each of these full moons. He has captured the feeling and essence of each perfectly. The deep blues, grays, purples and blacks have hit the mood perfectly for each season of the year. Each picture is accompanied by Rylant's haunting words... In January The Stormy Moon Shines in mist, in ice, on a wild wolf's back find it and find your way home. The combination of word and picture is quite profound and you can actually feel yourself as a part of the illustration and words. Now mind you I have spent a great deal of my life as a chronic walker in the night and probably feel more at home during this period than any other time, during any season. I suppose I felt particularly at home with this work and am drawn to it. Moon light is said to show us the other side of what we see during the day. Moon light has the ability to change the shape and mood, the very essence of what is and what is not. Somehow the artist has captured this through his work and has interpreted the author's words perfectly. One of my favorite children's books is When I was Young in the Mountains by the same author, Cynthia Rylant, and the same quality that is found in that work shines through in this one. This book should indeed be a part of ever child's library, and indeed, ever adults. I cannot recommend it high enough. Read it and then go out walking in the field, far from any city or town and you will know what I am talking about! When I Was Young in the Mountains (Reading Rainbow Books) Don Blankenship The Ozarks

My 3 yo granddaughter loves the moon and loves this book. Although the prose is spare, it captures the essence of each month's full moon. The illustrations are soft, subtle and like Rylant's writing, full of wondrous detail. This is a fabulous pairing of writer and illustrator. They compliment each other perfectly. I enjoy this one as much as my granddaughter.

i read this book late at night in the winter time during the full moon, and was so taken with the artwork, i stayed awake to reread and reread it. the landscape really caught me, i could feel it and smell it, it felt like i was walking through this panorama. i loved looking at each page to see how it connected to the page before, how the road got closer, then further away as i kept walking. when i read the book to my kindergartners, they were awed and silent. they loved finding some of the hidden art in the drawings, looking for the wolf in the sky was their favorite. this is a magical book, which leaves you feeling hushed, peaceful, happy.

This book is a remarkable achievement. Rylant's simple yet moving and profound poems capture the magic and wonder of the night-time, and they have been further brought to life - and to light, amazingly so, in a rich diversity of luminous grays, blues, purples - by the illustrator. Reading it with my five-year-old niece, who has often been afraid alone at night, was truly delightful: Long Night Moon brings out the richness, softness and intimacy of the nocturnal environment, in a way that a child finds reassuring. The journey of the seasons is shown in snapshots, panning along a 360° view of the same landscape, bringing us back, at December's Long Night Moon, to the homey scene of the beginning. It gives a feeling of completeness and harmony, one more of the very successful uses of symbolism and imagery by this author/illustrator pair who were very fortunate to find one another. I've recommended this book to several friends, who told me it also gave them very pleasant reading experiences with the children in their life.

From BOOKPAGE, December 2004: Once in a blue moon Inspired by the Native American custom of naming full moons, veteran Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Rylant teams up with newcomer Mark Siegel in a lovely new book showcasing the 12 full moons of the year. As artist Mark Siegel shares in a note, although he was immediately captivated by Rylant's words, he wasn't quite sure of the best medium to use for his artwork. After trying acrylics and oils, he finally chose charcoal, pencil and pastels. Perhaps more importantly, he took "many long walks by moonlight in the beautiful Rockefeller Farms, near Sleepy Hollow, New York," realizing that he'd never given so much attention to moonlight before. This careful attention paid off in Siegel's stunning illustrations exploring all 360 degrees of one spot in the countryside. The dark yet silvery images seem perfectly in tune with Rylant's words, which evoke the moons, the natural world and seasons, and the meanings they hold for us. The book begins: "In January the Stormy Moon shines in mist, in ice, on a wild wolf's back. Find it and find your way home." Each month is lovingly evoked, from the Sprouting Grass Moon of April, to June's Strawberry Moon, to the Acorn Moon of October. December's moon is the Long Night Moon, which waits, and waits, and waits for morning. This, Rylant tells us, is the faithful moon. Long Night Moon is a perfect way to introduce young children to the seasons. Share it with your family after a moonlit walk, and you will create indelible memories.