Book Summary: Princess Lenore is sick and the one thing she thinks will make her better is the moon. The King summons his best men: a Lord, a wizard, and a mathematician to get the moon for his daughter. No one is able to get Lenore the 'moon' until a jester has an idea to ask her what she thinks the moon is made of and how big it is. She ends up getting a moon shaped necklace and is cured. The next big challenge is how to keep her from seeing the real moon which is of course still in the sky. Again the smartest men cannot solve this dilemma and if falls upon the jester to solve.
APA Reference: Thurber, James. (1973). Many moons. New York, NY: HMH Books.
APA Reference: Thurber, James. (1973). Many moons. New York, NY: HMH Books.
Impressions: Cute! I really enjoyed reading this story. When I noticed the pattern with the wise men reading off their list for the various things they have got for the King I saw some humor shine through. There were some wacky things that these men have done for this King and I loved how at the end of each list were a few items their wives had tacked on for the wise men to get them. Clever. I also loved Lenore's explanation for why there was another moon in the sky- sounds like an explanation one of my students might come up with. The best part- to me- is that no one is able to solve the King's dilemmas except the court jester- nice twist.
Professional Review:
Although the Caldecott-winning edition illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (HBJ, 1943) is the one that many parents and librarians grew up with, this new full-color version by Simont has a charm of its own. His illustrations are more modern in appearance, although the essentially periodless style of dress on the characters has the timeless look that this literary fairy tale demands. Backgrounds are generally sketchy, giving the characters center stage. The clever Jester, dressed in fool's motley, is still the only one of the King's advisors who has the sense to ask Princess Lenore just what she expects when she asks for the moon. The pompous Lord High Chamberlain, the skatty Wizard, and the absent-minded Mathematician are as helpless as ever, and the little princess with her common sense and gap-toothed smile is charming. This will delight a whole new generation of children.
Although the Caldecott-winning edition illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (HBJ, 1943) is the one that many parents and librarians grew up with, this new full-color version by Simont has a charm of its own. His illustrations are more modern in appearance, although the essentially periodless style of dress on the characters has the timeless look that this literary fairy tale demands. Backgrounds are generally sketchy, giving the characters center stage. The clever Jester, dressed in fool's motley, is still the only one of the King's advisors who has the sense to ask Princess Lenore just what she expects when she asks for the moon. The pompous Lord High Chamberlain, the skatty Wizard, and the absent-minded Mathematician are as helpless as ever, and the little princess with her common sense and gap-toothed smile is charming. This will delight a whole new generation of children.
Cerny, Rosanne. (1991). [Review of Many moons]. School library journal. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156569809?ie=UTF8&isInIframe=1&n=283155&redirect=true&ref_=dp_proddesc_0&s=books&showDetailProductDesc=1#iframe-wrapper.
Library Uses: This book would be a great introduction to teaching younger kids about the moon, where it is, what it is made of, and is it possible to catch it. The repetition would be great for making predictions as well.
