When the Moon Smiled: A Bedtime Counting Book

My daughter recieved this for her second birthday, and loves it. It is beautifully illustrated and the layout is truly imaginative. The words and rhythm lend themself easily to bedtime-friendly reading (that is, getting quieter and slower as you go along). My only issue with this book is from the "bedtime" standpoint. The deep colors, combined with the watercolor style and offbeat typeface, while charming, make it rather hard to read in dim light. And for a book geared toward bedtime, that may be something to take into consideration.

We purchased this book for our 16-month old without realizing it was intended for ages 3-5, but are very glad we did. This has become our daughter's favorite book. She loves the 2-page layout pictures and the colors used throughout the book. The story is great and she takes her time flipping from page to page.

When the Moon Smiled, written and illustrated by Petr Horacek, tells the story of the moon lighting the stars one by one in the night sky until everything is right with the world. The story is well-written, with a warm, reassuring quality reminiscent of classic folktales. Die-cut stars appear as they are lit by the moon for all the farm animals that haven't yet settled down for the night. Starting at one and ending with 10, another star is added with every turn of the page, encouraging young readers to count along as they go. The number of animals depicted in each colorful illustration reflects the number of stars presented on the same page, reinforcing the numerical concept. Congratulations to Petr Horacek for this excellent book. Although When the Moon Smiled is subtitled "A Bedtime Counting Book," preschoolers will love reading this book at any time of day. I highly recommend it.