Many Moons

Bibliographical information: Title: Many Moons
Author: James Thurber
Illustrator: Louis Slobodkin.
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company. Year: 1943
Genre: picture book

Plot: This wonderful tale is about Princess Lenore, ten years old, who falls ill one day. The King, Lenore's father, tells his daughter that he will fetch whatever her heart desires. The princess tells her father that she wants the moon. Luckily for the King, he has many wise men that always get everything he asks for. Because he can attain whatever he asks for, he believes that fetching the moon for his beloved sick child will not be a problem. Unfortunately, when he goes to each royal servant, he discovers that none of them can bring him the moon. The Lord High Chamberlain explains that the moon would not fit in the bedroom, and that it is many miles away. The Royal Wizard, despite all his magic tricks, could not summon the moon to Lenore. The Royal Wizard explained that the moon was even bigger, made out of cheese, and even further away compared to what the Lord High Chamberlain said, Saddened and discouraged by his attempts to bring her daughter the moon to make her feel better, the Court Jester surprisingly offers a solution. He goes to Lenore, and tells her the moon is made of gold, and it is a small circle. The jester gets a piece of gold, thinking it is the moon, and gives it to her on a necklace. Overall, this story is about how a loving father and his royal servants try to give Princess Leone the moon.


Theme: Children are sometimes wiser than their elders.


Illustration: Many of the pictures are distinctive by a black outline around the objects and characters. There is not much color, and the scenes in the book are surrounded by a white background. The drawings are simple, yet artistic. The illustrator made a lot of his drawings effortless. One picture is of the stairs leading to Princess's Lenore's room. It looks so easy to draw but I know that a lot of care and effort is taken in these drawings. In that same picture, the court jester is running up the stairs. He is shaded light blue, the same color as the stairs. There is also a lot of use of blending in these pictures. In one picture, the castle has different bright colors exploding from the top. The castle is shooting out blends of almost every color, from black to pink and green. The facial features are not distinguished, but it leaves a lot of room to the imagination.


Reflection: I enjoyed this book very much because of the ending. Although all the King's servants tried to get the moon for the Princess, the Court Jester was able to give her the moon. When the Jester and others found out that the moon was still shining, and the girl was still wearing her necklace, thinking it was the moon, she gave a very clever response. A new moon grows in its place. This story made me realize how easy things little children can make things seem. Adults have a knack of making things much too complicated than they already are.


Extension activity: Draw your own picture of the moon. Think about what you have heard and imagined about the moon, and draw an illustration based on that. Parents or teacher should pick out the needed materials they think is suitable for this project.