The Moon is Going to Addys House

by Ida Pearle

Publishers Weekly Working in collage, Pearle (A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play) sets delicately cut, classically proportioned human figures onto backdrops of striking colors and patterns. The effect is breathtaking. Pearle uses marbled paper in shades of pink and orange for the sky at dusk as Addy's family drives home after a play date in the city, and the moon appears to follow them. "Look way up high," writes Pearle, as the moon shines over the tall buildings, "and way down low," as it appears under a bridge. In her car seat, Addy twists and turns to see. "Oh, now I know," she says, as they drive over the last hill. "The moon was going to my house!" Pearle's portrait of Addy as she holds her pajamas out in front of her has the grace of a Renoir. A page turn shows her prancing with joy beneath the gigantic moon: "It waited to light up my nighttime dance." Pearle captures silky motion, conjures up a sense of warmth without reserve, and celebrates children's intuitive grasp of the natural world. Ages 3-5. Agent: Meredith Kaffel, DeFiore and Company. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1-The perceived movements of the moon during a car ride are a source of mystery and delight to children-and there is no shortage of picture books on the topic. Pearle, however, brings fresh excitement to this phenomenon with her dynamic cut-paper collages. The story opens at the end of a "play date." Addy and her sister have been building with blocks at a friend's home in the city. The pale moon is visible through the window and in subsequent compositions. As the family drives home, the girls play hide-and-seek with the orb, searching throughout the bustling neighborhood, under the bridge, and behind the mountains. Pearle employs a variety of techniques to maintain interest. A warm palette turns cool; paper choices range from the vibrant marbleized swirls of a façade to the wispy rice paper suggesting a cloud. Shifting perspectives include a bird's-eye view and a reflection. Particularly effective is the illusion of the scenery as a blurred stack of horizontal lines as the family rides swiftly through the country, windows rolled down, hair blowing about. The first-person text is sparse and childlike. The blank faces (except for a few slight, occasional lines, suggesting a cheekbone or eye socket), may strike some as odd, but there is much to recommend this spirited offering, not the least of which is the dazzling conclusion in which the pajama-clad Addy is shown in simultaneous succession. The spread captures eight different positions of a moonlit cartwheel. VERDICT A lovely celebration of a magical celestial companion.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list Summer bedtime is magical for a little girl returning from a play date. The moon follows Addy and her family home in their car, peeks through the window as she and her sister have a bath, and supervises their moonlit dance. The children watch the moon through the car window, trying to capture it with their hands, and the moon appears to watch them back in one marvelous aerial composition of red-winged blackbirds high in the trees and the road snaking far below. Cut-paper collage using a wide variety of gorgeous papers marbled, speckled, textured, and patterned lends visual interest to every detail, from a dachshund on a leash to a lady's miniskirt. Swirls and stripes give these illustrations movement and perspective, while intricate, precise cuts mimic back-lit foliage, windblown hair, birds, and architecture. Pearle's colors are vivid, almost psychedelic, in contrast to realistic human figures with contours straight out of Dick and Jane. A unique, fantastic combination of artistic materials, retro style, and endearing story.--Willey, Paula Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.