Review: The Moon Shines Down

Can I just say, when you read this book it may just take you back to your childhood... or maybe to the childhood of your parents? I know that this book was written by a woman who died in 1952 ( it was recently discovered in an old trunk and published for the first time), but it took me by surprise just how nostalgic it would make me for my childhood and hearing my mother's voice read stories to me as a child. My first read-through of it was to my 6 year old son who loved it and begged to have it read again. The simple song/rhyme "I see the moon" is one that I have sung to my children since infancy and so the book's arrival was eagerly anticipated by us all.



The book takes you on a 'round the globe journey to see many of the cultures of the world and be reminded that the moon shines down on each. The story is reminiscent of Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon in it's tenderness and lullaby-like cadence and it is easy to see how this book will become another classic to the adoring audiences of each of those books as well. I was delighted at the extended length of the book and that it really did touch on so many other cultures without being too deep for young ears.



I recommend this book to any young family who would like to introduce a broader perspective to their children and perhaps reach back to a simpler time when it was easier to see the world as a series of childlike cultural icons on a waffle house map. The innocence and gentleness of this book will be a reassurance to those tired of viewing the world in a defensive manner and who posses a yearning to see all God's children in a common light.