The Night the Moon Fell Groundwood Books
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About the Book
English Edition Description
A whoosh from her grandfather's blowgun causes Luna, the moon, to tumble from the sky and fall to pieces in the dark ocean. In this beautifully retold Maya legend, the moon must come to her own rescue, enlisting the help of little fish to glue her back together. At last she rises, beautiful and round once again, taking her new friends with her to create the Milky Way. Pat Mora has taken the traditional Mopan Maya (Belize) myth - in which the moon is a young weaver and the Milky Way a fish- and transformed it to show a spunky moon who finds a way to save herself, making the archetypal journey from homeland to a strange new world and back again.
Pat Mora is the leading American Latina author of picture books as well as a well-known poet and writer for adults. Her books, House of Houses and Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints, have been acclaimed, as have her children's books, which include The Rainbow Tulip, The Desert Is My Mother and Tomás and the Library Lady.
Domi, the illustrator of Señora Regañona and the well-known Story of Colors, written by Zapatista hero Sub-Comandante Marcos, is a native artist from Oaxaca, Mexico. She lives with her husband, artist Antonio Ramírez, in a beautiful art-filled house in Tlaquepaque, Mexico.
Spanish Edition Description
Pat Mora es una de las líderes del movimiento literario infantil hispano de los Estados Unidos. Es poeta, ha escrito libros para niños y adultos y es una figura de gran renombre. Sus libros House of Houses y Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints han sido tan aclamados como sus libros infantiles, entre los cuales se cuentan: The Rainbow Tulip, The Desert is My Mother y Tomás and the Library Lady. Domi, la ilustradora de Señora Regañona y del famoso La Historia de los colores, escrito por el héroe Zapatista Sub-comandante Marcos, es una artista de Oxaca, México. Domi vive con su esposo, el artista Antonio Ramírez en una hermosa casa llena de piezas de arte en Tlaquepaque, México. |
Un Uuchchcht de la cerbatana del abuelo hace que Luna se caiga
del cielo y se parta en pedazos sobre el fondo del mar. Esta
leyenda Maya, llena de hermosos detalles, cuenta como la luna debe
rescatarse a sí misma, con la ayuda de los pececitos quienes la
pegan de nuevo. Cuando al fin se levanta, hermosa y redonda otra
vez, invita a sus amigos a vivir en el cielo y a formar la Vía
Láctea. Pat Mora ha transformado el mito tradicional de los Mopan
Mayas (Belize) - en el cual la luna es una tejedora joven y los
pececitos la Vía Láctea - para mostrar cómo una valiente luna
encuentra la manera de salvarse así misma, recreando el arquetipo
de un viaje a un mundo desconocido y el regreso de nuevo a casa. Highlighted Reviews
"The descriptive writing imbues both Luna and fish with character--spunky in the case of the moon and indelibly hopeful and cheerful in the instance of the fish--and gives the story enough drama to engage young readers and listeners. The progression from sadness and despair to problem solution to the triumphal return to the sky with fish in tow is masterfully presented."—School Library Journal
"A wonderfully affirming story supported by beautiful artwork. "—School Library Journal (Spanish edition)
" … Mora is a fine poet, and her words are simple and immediate … Mexican artist Domi's beautiful watercolors show the splashing rainbow colors connecting fish, sea, birds, moon, and sky."—Booklist
"Mora makes Luna come alive in the narrative, which includes
vivid description punctuated with sounds and song-like rhymed
couplets … Words and pictures collaborate here in telling a
poetic, even fantastic story, one that demands that the reader
enter another kind of world."
—Starred, New Books of Merit, The
Five Owls
