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Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Short Stories. HTML: The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown Illustrator Linda Bleck Forgotten for decades in a dusty, tucked�??away trunk, The Moon Shines Down brings to life once more the unmistakable voice of Margaret Wise Brown. This soon�??to�??be classic allows a whole new generation of children to discover, cherish, and enjoy the artistry of this beloved author. Never before published, The Moon Shines Down on children all over the world from right next door to across the sea, from where "a Dutch boy dreams" and "cowbells ring" to "across the sea in the Far, Far East", through the familiar prayer: I see the Moon And the Moon sees me. God bless the Moon, And God bless me. Margaret Wise Brown (1910�??1952) was a pioneer of children's literature, choosing to write the stories that children wanted to hear�??rather than those that grown�??ups wanted to tell. She is best known for her now classic Good Night Moon and Runaway Bunny, which remain among the world's best�??selling children's books. Margaret was a prolific writer, and, at the peak of her career, she had over 100 books in print. Her untimely death left numerous manuscripts and ideas behind in various stages of completion. After a time, these were tucked away in a cedar trunk and largely forgotten. It is from this forgotten trunk that The Moon Shines Down was rescued. Illustrator Linda Bleck began her artistic career as a child, drawing on rolls of old blueprint paper supplied by her architect father. Later, she helped her mother, a freelance illustrator for Hallmark, paint in the details of her intricate drawings. Linda's work has appeared in The NewYorker, Time Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. She is also the writer and illustrator of the "Pepper the Dog" series, which won the National Parenting Publication Award. Linda and her family now live in southern Wisconsin...where the moon shines down on them, one and all. The Story Behind the Lost Manuscript... The Moon Shines Down from MARGARET WISE BROWN, the Author of Goodnight Moon The Moon Shines Down is being published for the first time 56 years after the death of the beloved children's author Margaret Wise Brown. Amazingly, this unpublished manuscript lay incomplete and forgotten in a cedar trunk in a Vermont barn. When it was discovered, the onionskin paper had yellowed and the paperclips that held the pages together had rusted. Children's book publisher, Laura Minchew, a longtime fan of Brown, took on the challenge to complete the work. Based on the New England Sampler prayer, "God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me," this soon�??to�??be bedtime classic is a prayer for God's blessing on all… (more)
User reviews
For me this book is an absolute winner and I am so grateful that it was found and plan that my entire family should have a copy of their own.
Though there are rough patches in some of the verses, children are unlikely to notice the problems with the rhythm. The illustrations are sure to please children and adults alike, and helped me overlook the issues with the text. One note- the illustrations bear no resemblance to those of Wise Brown’s classic books, so readers hoping to recapture that era may be disappointed.
Because of the frequent mention of God, this book would not be appropriate for many settings; teachers looking for classroom books may want to check this book out of the library for review before making a final decision on purchase.
All in all, this is a wonderful addition to the Wise Brown canon. The charming rhymes and glimpses of children around the world make for a lovely global message of a bedtime story.
This book is a multicultural book that gives children a broader perspective of how children live in other countries. The book explains that the moon shines in every country around the world. The moon shines down in Switzerland, in the Far, Far East including countries such as Japan, Korea,
Personal Reaction:
I really like this book. I like the way the book explains the cultures through the illustrations demonstrating each culture. It is a good book to teach about different countries and how the moon shines on every place in the world. The children can understand that. I like the way this book targets the children in the different countries because this is what helps to spark the interest in other cultures in children. I like to sit down and read this book to my children and explain to them how children live all over the world. It is a wonderful teaching tool. I think this book is a culturally generic book because it gives an overview of the culture but not specifics.
Extension Ideas:
1. Have the class write in a journal three things they learned from this book.
2. Have the students in your classroom bring in something from their culture and explain it to the class like show and tell.
3. Have the students journal something that they do in their culture and then discuss as a class
Children’s book publisher, Laura Minchew, a fan of Margaret Wise Brown, took on the challenge of completing the manuscript for this book. She was able to match Margaret Wise Brown’s writing style as she captured the author’s unique rhythms and rhyming schemes.
Parents will appreciate the opportunity of introducing this lovely book, filled with rhyming text and charming illustrations, to their children. Fans of “Goodnight Moon” are certain to enjoy this new classic.
Highly recommended.