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The Night the Moon Fell

Groundwood Books
Illustrated by Domi
English edition
Re-issue due fall 2009

Also available in Spanish:
La noche que se cayo la luna

Hardcover ISBN 9780888993991
Paperback ISBN 9780888994578

Also Available in Korean
ISBN 89-7057-645-2

Teachers & Librarians

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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

La noche que se cayo la lunaUn 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.

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.

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

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