Product Description

While tired farmers and their families are in bed, the harvest moon silently climbs into the sky and starts working its magic. For some, it is the nightly signal to rise and shine. It is time to hunt, to work, or to play in the shadows. For a little girl and her cat, it is an invitation to enjoy the wonders of the night and a last flood of light before the short days of winter set in. With an evocative text and radiant illustrations, this companion to Twilight Comes Twice offers a glimpse of nature's nightlife long after bedtime.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179919 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-25
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .41" h x 10.62" w x 9.62" l, .95 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 4-In this lyrical offering, the harvest moon rises on a quiet neighborhood and bathes the silent streets in brilliant lunar light. It illuminates corn and wheat fields, inspires luna moths to perform ballet in the crisp air, and casts a silver shadow on the red and orange autumn trees. A young girl and her cat play hide-and-seek by its light, a pilot flies her plane in near-daytime brightness, and a night watchman wonders if he'll need his flashlight. As morning nears, the moon sets in daylight and the child and her cat bid it goodnight. Fletcher's poetic prose makes use of gentle tempo and internal rhyme. Imaginative metaphors add to the text; as the moon sets, it sprinkles "silver coins like a careless millionaire." Careful use of second-person narrative draws readers into the text. Kiesler's luminous oil paintings portray the luscious moon glow, and a refrained use of brush stroke captures the mystery of nighttime when the familiar world becomes exotic, dazzling, and alive with nocturnal life. Warm hues evoke homey, autumn scenes. Hello, Harvest Moon helps usher in the season and encourages readers to connect with people throughout the ages who have marveled at the glorious sight.
Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 3. Impressionistic oil paintings evoke the feel of a crisp fall night in this ode to the harvest moon. Descriptive text introduces the huge, orange moon as it rises above the cornfields, and describes its effect on a little girl woken from sleep, a night watchman as he gets ready to go to work, and on nature itself. Moonflowers bloom, "though only night creatures will see them." Even though night is the focus here, the pace is anything but somnolent; readers will be awakened to a new world of activity that begins only when the moon rises. The overall effect is peaceful rather than frenetic, however; the dark beauty of the illustrations captures the magic of nighttime: a deep blue sky contrasting with the bright moon and stars; the little girl's cat pouncing on something invisible nearby; the harbor's dark water blending with the sky. Pair this with Julian Scheer's By the Light of the Captured Moon (2000) for before-bed reads that focus on nighttime instead of bedtime for a change. Diane Foote
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"pairs poetically intense writing with luminescent oils...rich in metaphor...peaceful reading either in season, or on any moonlit night." (Kirkus Reviews )

"lyrical offering...poetic prose...imaginative metaphors...draws readers into the text...luminous oil paintings...warm hues evoke homey, autumn scenes." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (School Library Journal )

"Impressionistic oil paintings ...Descriptive text...peaceful...the dark beauty of the illustrations captures the magic of nighttime." BOOKLIST (Booklist, ALA )

"a visual and linguistic pleasure...oil paintings gleam...text and art together create a sense of wonder...lyrical, child-friendly images" PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Publishers Weekly )