Moongame

Frank Asch is on my entering kindergartener's Summer Reading List and I (we) can certainly understand why. His stories are gentle and cute and wonderfully illustrated. In Moongame, Bear learns how to play hide and seek. And when Little Bird goes home, he continues playing with the moon. At first, the moon finds him hiding in a hollow tree trunk. The moon then 'hides' behind a cloud, and when Bear cannot find him, he asks for Little Birds and the forest creatures help. They look everywhere but cannot find the moon! Perplexed and a little sad, Bear suddenly thinks to say, "Okay, Moon, I give up. You win!". At which point, a breeze blows the clouds away and there is the moon. Hurray! Five Stars. A lovely book for toddlers on up.

Moonbear and Little Bird spend a day playing hide and seek. When Little Bird leaves, Moonbear doesn't want to stop, so he asks the Moon to play with him. In a quiet, great-for-right-before-bed book, kids can learn about playing with friends, playing on their own and cooperation. This is a gentle book and thoroughly enjoyable for my whole family.

This book tells the story of a young bear who learns to play hide-and-seek from his friend the bird. He spends all day taking turns hiding or counting to 10 before searching for his friend. At night he decides to play the same game with the moon. The natural world of the moon and the clouds astounds him. The animals of the forest come out and help. The book is charming, and a good short read before bed, with about 700 words.

Of all Frank Asch's books, this is our four year old daughter's favorite. She responds very well to the humor of the situation and loves the idea of playing with the moon.Back when we first started reading to our daughter as a baby, she was very impatient and wouldn't sit for long stories. We were limited to board books that were very short and direct. Frank Asch's titles helped us show her that sitting for a whole story was worthwhile. Now she'll sit for much longer titles, but the whole Moon Bear series are still favorite re-reads!

Little Bird teaches Bear how to play "hide and seek," complete with covering his eyes, counting to ten, and, most importantly, taking turns. Later, when Little Bird is not around, Bear asks the moon to play. When it's Bear's turn to count, the moon "hides" behind a cloud. But when Bear can't find the moon, he first enlists the help of Little Bird, then all of the animals in the forest to help search for the moon. This delightful book teaches toddlers and preschoolers several important lessons. First, they learn the rules of hide and seek, a quintessential childhood game. They can count to ten along with Bear and practice taking turns. And they learn the importance of cooperation and asking for help when you need it. Many books for children attempt to teach such life lessons in heavy-handed ways, but this one maintains its gentle tone throughout.