And If the Moon Could Talk by Kate Banks

This is the work of Shawn Simpson-Smith and Emily Carman:

What struck us first of all is the color of the moon. It is not dark or haunting, but a bright golden color. This suggests safety and security. Nighttime is not frightening or dangerous, but warm and embracing. The golden moonlight suggests unconditional love, rebirth, warmth, protection, and the promise of tomorrow.

The second thing that struck us are the illustrations. The illustrator Hallensleben shifts between white borders and "full-bleed spreads" in his illustrations. He uses the white borders in all the indoor scenes, which suggests the security of a contained environment. He uses border- less, "full-bleed spreads" in his outdoor scenes. This suggests the vastness, the limitlessness of life.

The colors struck us as well. The colors are vibrant, warm, and draw you into the picture. The colors of the little girl's room are bright, Southwestern colors. There room is gold, red, blue, green, and turquoise. In the exterior pictures, the colors are deeper and richer. The colors are soothing and tranquil, which suggests all is right with the world. The illustrations evoke the peaceful Chrismas carol "Silent Night" (All is calm, All is bright). It is also reminiscent of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane when Edward spent his evenings staring up at the sky; the light comforted him in a way he could not initially understand.

The central character in the story is the moon. The moon is in every outdoor illustration and most of the indoor illustrations. What struck us is the picture that says "And it would murmur." This is an illustration of the moon looking down on the little girl who is now sound asleep in her bed. This is the only outdoor picture where you don't see the moon because we get the moon's perspective. The final picture in the book is interesting as well because this is the only indoor picture without white borders, it is a "full-bleed spread" picture. It gives you the sense that moon is watching over her, and that she is now one with the world. She is part of the vastness, the great circle of life.