Product Description

A richly-textured tale about family and storytelling.

Abel Grable’s work takes him into remote jungles with only the moon to guide the way. His children love to hear about his moonlit adventures and when he’s back home, he decides to write them down. After he’s gone away again, the children use his writing table and transform it into a moon machine to create their own imaginary exploits.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #600594 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-01
• Released on: 2002-11-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 10.50" h x .12" w x 8.50" l, .38 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Hughes (the Alfie books) once again uses small, everyday moments to craft a powerful story. To find work, Abel Grable must journey far and wide, leaving his wife and three boisterous boys. But when each job is over, he returns to his family and regales everyone with the fantastic adventures he's had. After one such trip, Abel decides to record some of his stories, moving an old table out into the garden to find some quiet in which to write. When Abel leaves again, his boys take comfort in both the stories he's left behind and those they create themselves, using their imaginations to convert his writing table into a campsite, a boat and then a machine for flying to the moon. Hughes's direct, unadorned prose gives both substance and depth to this wisp of a story line, as do her trademark watercolor illustrations, both beautiful and comforting in their sturdy, homey detail. The loneliness and longing created by a parent's absence are never explicitly mentioned; they quietly inform text and art as well as the story's interplay between fantasy and reality. Keeping sentimentality at bay, Hughes's restraint gives the characters' emotions unusual resonance. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2 After Abel Grable returns from working out of the country, he tells his wife and sons all about his adventures. He describes camping out in jungles and taking supplies by riverboat to people in places with no electricity, with only the moon to guide the way. Because the boys love hearing these stories so much, Abel decides to record them. Finding it too noisy to work inside, he takes a table out in the yard, and writes for many hours. Then he goes off again. Using the table at which he wrote, Noah and Adam re-create their father's adventures or pretend that the table is a machine that can take them to the moon. That night, Adam realizes that the same moon is shining on him and on Abel, and on all people who love one another but can't be together. And, he imagines all the wonderful stories he will have to tell his father about his adventures. Hughes's deceptively plain writing style packs a subtle emotional wallop. Youngsters will appreciate the loving family, and enjoy the children's imaginative play. Hughes's humorous watercolor illustrations are at their best here. They effectively depict the luminous moonlight and the characters' changing feelings. They also make the little ordinary family treasures and clutter an important part of the narrative. The text and art fit beautifully together to create a moving story that can be appreciated on many levels. Anne Parker, Milton Public Library, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“Shirley Hughes’ longer texts are expressively illustrated and full of rich imagery and language that will encourage more
sophisticated listeners and beginner readers.” -- Daily Telegraph