The Moon's Revenge (Red Fox Picture Books)

by Joan Aiken

Other authorsAlan Lee (Illustrator)
Paperback, 1990

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Publication

Red Fox (1990), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 32 pages

Description

Seppy forces the moon to give him his wish, to be the maker of enchanted fiddle music, but almost pays a horrible price for it.

User reviews

LibraryThing member rumyana2
This story is both realistic and fantastic. The author conveys a dream-like realism, describing a medieval town on a rocky and stormy coast in England, visited by a ghost and a dragon. The beautiful illustrations definitely match this half real half fantasy tone. The book is a great testament to
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the power of music,and how a strong desire can motivate and give great courage on the way of achieving it.
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LibraryThing member Alina100
This story is both realistic and fantastic. The author conveys a dream-like realism, describing a medieval town on a rocky and stormy coast in England, visited by a ghost and a dragon. The beautiful illustrations definitely match this half real half fantasy tone. The book is a great testament to
Show More
the power of music,and how a strong desire can motivate and give great courage on the way of achieving it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Young Seppy longs to play the fiddle in this original fairy-tale from Joan Aiken, the celebrated children's author best-known for such works as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Midnight Is a Place. The seventh son of a seventh son, Seppy was expected to become a coach maker like his father, and
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keep his music as a hobby. Sneaking out late one night to visit the ruined old house in his seaport town, a house rumored to be haunted, he asks the voices inside how he might become the best fiddler in the country, and is advised to throw his shoe at the moon, each night for seven nights. His actions, in doing so, leave ugly marks upon the moon, angering that celestial body. The moon takes its revenge by declaring that the boy will go barefoot for seven years, that his baby sister (the as-yet unborn Octavia) will be mute until he restores the shoes he has thrown to their original storage place (the family's grandfather clock), and that he and his family will face a grave danger in the future. Years later, when that danger emerges in the form of a terrible sea monster, it is Seppy's fiddling that defeats the intruder, saving the entire town in the process...

I recall reading and enjoying The Moon's Revenge years ago, when I was indulging in a Joan Aiken binge, and remember enjoying it immensely. This recent reread only cemented my pleasure in the fantastic tale, which utilizes so many classic fairy and folktale elements, from the idea of the seventh son of the seventh son having special abilities and a special fate, to the story-line in which a terrible monster in lulled by the beauty of music. The illustrations here, done by the marvelous Alan Lee. whose work illustrating Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings won him the honor of designing the sets for the Peter Jackson films based on those same books, are absolutely beautiful. There is a magical quality to Lee's work, making it particularly suitable for works of fantasy, and that certainly manages to come across here. I loved his moonlit scenes, and his country ones. His monster is fierce, and his ghostly king creepy. In short, his illustrations captures the charm and enchantment of Aiken's tale to perfection. This is one I would recommend to Aiken fans (in whose number I count myself), to fairy-tale lovers, and to anyone who enjoyed Alan Lee's gorgeous illustrations.
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Language

Physical description

32 p.; 10.55 inches

ISBN

0099750104 / 9780099750109

Local notes

A young boy who wants to be a fiddler and what he must do to get his wish. Sep overhears voices say that he is to throw seven shoes at the moon. The moon exacts a price from Sep which includes going barefoot for seven years, a sister who is unable to speak, and an encounter with a dragon. Beautiful paintings by Lee.
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