And+If+the+Moon+Could+Talk



By Katie Atwater

**__Bibliographical Data __**
Publication Date: 2005

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Illustrator: Georg Hallensleben ISBN: 0-374-30299-5 Pages: 32 Ages: 3-6

__Summary__ It is nighttime and inside a house a child is getting ready to go to bed. The father reads the child a story, then Mama comes in to say goodnight. As dreams wait to enter sleep, the book describes many different nighttime activities that the moon sees from its vantage point. These activities range from just outside the house to high above.

__Review__ I personally enjoyed reading this book and would also love reading it to my students. I think this book is not only a great nighttime reading book but a good book to teach with. It shows children that while they are drifting off to sleep, many things are occurring. I think it is also a great book to show students point of view. A great lesson would be to have the students choose a vantage point of different items and describe how they might see the world.

__Analysis of Literary Element__ An important literary element in the book “And If the Moon Could Talk” is the illustrations. The illustrations in the book are great additions to the lines in the book that start with “and if the moon could talk”. The lines on these certain pages connect to illustration on the page. I think it is important that the illustration of the moon is showed on each page that has the line “and if the moon could talk”. It helps the students understand that the moon is describing the illustration that it on the page. The illustrations in the book are whimsical especially on the pages where they are describing the child getting ready for bed. The illustration is important to show that this is an ordinary child, with toys and a bedroom, and someone that the students can connect to.

Author Biography Kate Banksgrew up in Maine, she and her three siblings spend a lot of time outdoors, and this is where Banks developed her love of reading. Banks loved picture books, she enjoyed the way that the words and illustrations in picture books could create a “whole new world in which sometimes read and other times magical and unexpected things could happen”. She attended Wellesley College and received her master’s in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years but now lives in the South of France with her husband and two sons.

Related Links @http://us.macmillan.com/author/katebanks media type="youtube" key="bJjEKp4AHek" height="315" width="560"