Book Review -- The Moon Shines Down

I just received the book The Moon Shines Down in the mail. By the author of Goodnight Moon, this manuscript lay hidden in a Vermont attic until its recent discovery and subsequent publishing.

The Moon Shines Down tells, in rhyme form, of little boys and girls around the world, and asks God’s blessing on them and on the reader. I found this book particularly endearing since I have a great love for foreign cultures and want my children to grow to love such cultures as well. It will be perfect to read with my toddler as a first introduction to children in other countries.

I like the large format of The Moon Shines Down, which gives plenty of room for the colorful and endearing illustrations of things like the Dutch boy in the land of cheese and cream, the children asleep in the Swiss Alps, the Chinese countryside, a French country village, kangaroos in Australia, or the plains of Africa.

Towards the end, the book returns to “our own country”, at Christmastime, with scenes of New York-type brownstones, and a New England village decked for the holidays, asking once again that God would bless the children in every country, bless the moon, and bless me.