Our nearest neighbour has always been a huge source of inspiration for creative folkd, and it continues to inspire children's authors and illustrators who just can't resist writing about it and drawing it!
Children seem drawn to books about the moon too, perhaps because it's something that they can always identify and see, hanging in the night sky as they're snuggling up to sleep after a bedtime book or three.
As part of the Walker Books blog tour to celebrate the release of Petr Horacek's fabulous "The Mouse who Ate the Moon" we've polled our lovely blog and twitter followers to find out which "Moony" books they love best. As usual they came up trumps with some real corkers
We dug through some of our previous reviews of moon books and naturally you'll want to read all about "The Mouse who ate the Moon" from Petr Horacek and Walker Books.
Also don't miss our review of this fabulous little book!
Without further ado let's take a look at a few of your awesome suggestions (in no particular order!)
I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay (Barefoot Books)
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The Great Moon Confusion by Richard Byrne (Oxford University Press)
Suggested by @damyantipatel, a wonderful animal tale of a disappearing moon - and a know-it-all raccoon (called, rather wonderfully, Aldrin). Rabbit wants to know why the moon is getting smaller every day and asks Aldrin, who spins many a yarn and blames two innocent bears, Hubble and Lovell.
Love the names in this one! This is definitely one to seek out ourselves!
Cosmic by Frank Cotterell Boyce (Macmillan Children's Books)
Suggested by @edgechristopher (yes, that Christopher Edge - Genius author / illustrator of the fantastic 'Twelve Minutes to Midnight'). A truly awe-inspiring of a young boy named Liam whose gangly appearance gives him the chance to compete with grown-ups to go into space. Frank's writing is tight, lyrical and brilliant so it's no surprise to find that 'Cosmic' reaped a ton of awards and is a fantastic read for your very own little space cadets.
Faerie Tribes - The Crystal Mirror by Paula Harrison (Nosy Crow)
Hey, we definitely don't mind authors mentioning their own moon-inspired books, particularly when it's the lovely Paula @P_Harrison. Paula's Faerie Tribes books are fabulous and we imagine that Charlotte will move onto these when she's polished off the Rescue Princess series by Paula.
Things take a turn for the magical when Laney spies a blood-red moon. A faerie in the Mist Tribe, Laney is soon drawn into a mysterious and sometimes dangerous adventure where she will clash with the Shadow Faerie, who seeks a collection of magical objects that will combine to make him all-powerful. Dark and mysterious, and the moon plays a key part so watch out for this one!
Moomin and the Moonlight Adventure by Tove Jansson (Puffin Books)
Suggested by Catherine @cjfriess, we couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to feature a book starring our favourite children's characters of all time, the wonderful Moomins.
Moomintroll, The Snork Maiden (our fave!) and Little My set out for an adventure to go treasure-seeking on a tiny island. Every time they set out, the sun sets and hampers their quest. Can the friends find treasure by the light of the moon? A fab book and a brilliant suggestion!
The Man on the Moon / Bob's Moontree Mystery by Simon Bartram (Templar Publishing)
Suggested by Rachel Ward @fwdtranslations we wholeheartedly agree that Moon Man Bob is a brilliant creation, and Simon Bartram's "Bob" books are fantastic for all ages. We love both "The Man on the Moon" and "Bob's Moontree Mystery". Bob is a happy go-lucky soul and just happens to be the world's expert on all things lunar. We love the brilliantly funny stories, and Simon's sumptuously detailed artwork. Best of all though, we love Barry (Bob's (whisper it) alien doggy chum) and the fact that Bob is blissfully ignorant to the fact that aliens are everywhere! Love it, brill suggestion Rachel!
I Will Eat the Moon by Dom Conlon and Nicola Anderson (Inkology)
We would definitely have suggested this brilliant book if @headfirst_dom hadn't cheekily popped it into our #MoonBooks twitter stream. Tiny the Giant, star of I AM A GIANT is back, and this time he's hungry.
Written by Dom Conlon and illustrated by Nicola Anderson, Tiny's determined to vault up the world's tallest beanstalk to take a chunk out of the mocking moon. "I WILL EAT THE MOON!" he vows, but is it too tall a task for our pocket-sized giant pal? Available as a kindle book but keep your eyes peeled, you might see it in print very very soon!
Sidney, Stella and the Moon by Emma Yarlett (Templar Publishing)
Lots of folk suggested this one, and so we couldn't resist including a former book of the week in our round up. @emmayarlett's fantastic debut "Sidney, Stella and the Moon" features a brother and sister who end up breaking the moon into tiny pieces when they argue while playing. They wonder if anyone will notice - and when the whole world does, it's up to Sidney and Stella to do something they've previously not been very good at - working together to solve the problem!
It's brilliant, atmospheric and fun. Don't miss our full review!
A Taste of the Moon by Michael Grejniec (Bright Connections Media)
A glorious suggestion from Jake at @tygertales - this is a truly beautiful and atmospheric book that finds a group of animals cooperating in their quest to reach the moon way up high in the sky.
Drawing inspiration from classic legends and fables, it's fresh, original and absolutely gorgeously illustrated.
That about wraps it up for our exploration of the moon in children's books. Please do let us know if you have any more brilliant moon book suggestions - either by dropping a comment in the box below, or by tweeting us @readitdaddy with the hashtags #MouseWhoAteTheMoon or #Moonbooks.