Title: Many Moons
Author: David Shannon
Illustrator: Louis Slobokin
Medium: Water color & colored pencils
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme: Understanding the perspective of the child vs the perspective of the adult. Reading this as an adult, it's hard for me to remember the innocence of the kid's perspective of things.
Summary: A little princess was sick, and her father wanted her to be well. The king would do anything for his daughter. He consulted a High Lord Chamberlain who told King that moon was larger than the Princess' room and is 35,000 miles away. He sent the lord away and called wizard who said moon was 150,000 miles away and is twice as big as this palace and is also made out of green cheese. So he consulted mathematician who had answer that king didn't want to hear, and various few others. None of them had the answer for the King. The jester told King of his idea to ask Princess what she thinks of the moon was made out of and how to get it. So he asked princess how large do she think the moon was and what was it made of. She told him that she thinks it was big as her thumbnail and was made of gold. So Jester went to Royal Goldsmith and asked for gold round moon on a chain. The Goldsmith asked what this was for. Jester explained it was the moon. Goldsmith had his own ideas of what it was made of and how far it was. Jester told him that is what he thinks. It doesn't matter because Princess thinks differently. The Princess got well and wore the moon necklace. The King's worries didn't end there. He was worried about next night when moon would rise again. He consulted all those again. They all had answers king didn't want to hear. Jester simply asked the princess why do she think moon is outside. She simply replied, things always grow back. When she loses a tooth, new tooth grows back in its place. When unicorn loses its horn, unicorn always got new horn that grows back.
Setting: The setting took place far away in a kingdom by a sea.
Characterization: Princess Lenore is one of the main characters, she was ten year old going on eleven. She had her own ideas, and not everyone agreed with it. When Jester realized that she have different perspective of things, he finally could get things that she wanted. She was happy go lucky kind of child. She's kind of girl that have her own imagination and beat to her own drums.
Plot: In this story, there was conflict of child vs adult perspective. It was hilarious to see how different people's opinions are on what moon's size, distance, and what it is made out of. Only Princess Lenore's opinion counted, so King stressed out for nothing. When King worried about Lenore finding out moon was going to rise next night. He asked the people how to solve this problem. They told him fireworks, circus tent, or dark glasses for Princess Lenore so she can't see the moon rising. The King rejected all the ideas. Jester asked Princess why she thinks moon rises again. She said well, things always grow back. She had better perspective than anyone in this book did.
Style: I loved how James Thurber wrote this story. All people of all ages would enjoy this story because this offers so many different perspectives. This story had very heartwarming ending. However, this writing style can be difficult for younger kids to read. Third and Fourth grade could read this with a ease. Younger kids would love it when it is read orally.
Reflection/Evaluation: This book is one of my favorite books of all time now. I'm not exactly crazy about the illustration. Louis Slobodkin had won The Caldecott Medal for his illustration. If this book was revamped only by illustration, it'd be million of times better. It would attract kids today to read this story. It might be too long for younger kids, but older kids would enjoy it. Personally, I would read more of James Thurber's works.
Theme: Understanding the perspective of the child vs the perspective of the adult. Reading this as an adult, it's hard for me to remember the innocence of the kid's perspective of things.
Summary: A little princess was sick, and her father wanted her to be well. The king would do anything for his daughter. He consulted a High Lord Chamberlain who told King that moon was larger than the Princess' room and is 35,000 miles away. He sent the lord away and called wizard who said moon was 150,000 miles away and is twice as big as this palace and is also made out of green cheese. So he consulted mathematician who had answer that king didn't want to hear, and various few others. None of them had the answer for the King. The jester told King of his idea to ask Princess what she thinks of the moon was made out of and how to get it. So he asked princess how large do she think the moon was and what was it made of. She told him that she thinks it was big as her thumbnail and was made of gold. So Jester went to Royal Goldsmith and asked for gold round moon on a chain. The Goldsmith asked what this was for. Jester explained it was the moon. Goldsmith had his own ideas of what it was made of and how far it was. Jester told him that is what he thinks. It doesn't matter because Princess thinks differently. The Princess got well and wore the moon necklace. The King's worries didn't end there. He was worried about next night when moon would rise again. He consulted all those again. They all had answers king didn't want to hear. Jester simply asked the princess why do she think moon is outside. She simply replied, things always grow back. When she loses a tooth, new tooth grows back in its place. When unicorn loses its horn, unicorn always got new horn that grows back.
Setting: The setting took place far away in a kingdom by a sea.
Characterization: Princess Lenore is one of the main characters, she was ten year old going on eleven. She had her own ideas, and not everyone agreed with it. When Jester realized that she have different perspective of things, he finally could get things that she wanted. She was happy go lucky kind of child. She's kind of girl that have her own imagination and beat to her own drums.
Plot: In this story, there was conflict of child vs adult perspective. It was hilarious to see how different people's opinions are on what moon's size, distance, and what it is made out of. Only Princess Lenore's opinion counted, so King stressed out for nothing. When King worried about Lenore finding out moon was going to rise next night. He asked the people how to solve this problem. They told him fireworks, circus tent, or dark glasses for Princess Lenore so she can't see the moon rising. The King rejected all the ideas. Jester asked Princess why she thinks moon rises again. She said well, things always grow back. She had better perspective than anyone in this book did.
Style: I loved how James Thurber wrote this story. All people of all ages would enjoy this story because this offers so many different perspectives. This story had very heartwarming ending. However, this writing style can be difficult for younger kids to read. Third and Fourth grade could read this with a ease. Younger kids would love it when it is read orally.
Reflection/Evaluation: This book is one of my favorite books of all time now. I'm not exactly crazy about the illustration. Louis Slobodkin had won The Caldecott Medal for his illustration. If this book was revamped only by illustration, it'd be million of times better. It would attract kids today to read this story. It might be too long for younger kids, but older kids would enjoy it. Personally, I would read more of James Thurber's works.
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