cover image The Moon Is a Silver Pond

The Moon Is a Silver Pond

Sara Cassidy, illus. by Josée Bisaillon. Orca, $10.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1-4598-1864-4

On a snowy evening, a child’s imagination transforms everyday objects into lunar comparisons. Lightly reminiscent of Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip’s A Moon or a Button, Cassidy’s gentle phrasing swings between clear metaphors (“The moon is a silver pond./ A pail of milk... A shining hubcap”) and those that require more imagination (“A sleeping snail... a tooth, a pillow”). Bisaillon’s cozy mixed-media illustrations, meanwhile, zoom in on delicate details: the head of a nail with dents like the moon’s craters, the steam rising off a warm apple pie, and a delicate thread winding through a pearlescent button. The slow recitation of moonlike items builds into a lovely bedtime transition, gradually moving from the wintry outdoors into a warm, snuggly bed, bathed in moonlight: “a tunnel through the dark night.” A volume sure to jump-start readers’ imaginations and create moon-y, luminous dreams. Ages up to 2. [em](Sept.) [/em]