cover image The Moon Is Going to Addy’s House

The Moon Is Going to Addy’s House

Ida Pearle. Dial, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-4054-9

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)