The Love of the Moonlight

Via loose rhymes, Buckner invites readers to view the moon as a model of peace, comfort, and love in this message-driven picture book. The moon, lines suggest, “never gets offended/ that we like to sleep at night,” it “spreads its love to all the creatures,” and it brings “comfort and light” amid the darkness. Shadow-filled gouache and digitally colored illustrations by Ortiz depict a metropolitan setting populated by people with varying body types and skin tones. While text seeks to portray the moon as a uniting entity, “colorblind” phrasing (“The moonlight makes us silhouettes,/ and people of one race,/ shining down on everyone/ equally with grace”) lessens the book’s impact. Ages 5–9. (Mar.)