The Moon Is Following Me

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAR 9, 2020

A child becomes certain that the moon is following him in Sirls's gently comedic picture book in the car, at bedtime, it's always there. Asked by his family, "Why would the moon follow you?" the bespectacled, brown-skinned boy imagines a series of increasingly unlikely situations in which the moon would have a particular interest in his actions: perhaps the moon, made of cheese, is mad at him for eating "her cheesy children"? Demanding that the orb stop trailing him, the boy eventually decides that "the moon is a superhero" working to save him from "woogly monsters in the dark." Sirls's richly hued, comics-style illustrations, including dialogue-style text and emanata, bleed to the edge of each page, successfully grounding readers in the boy's nocturnal imaginings. Sirls (The Book of Imaginary Friends) subtly depicts the ratcheting anxiety that can plague nighttime routines and experiences, injecting humor as the child's inventiveness creates a safe, calming coping mechanism one that can very frequently be seen in the night sky. Ages 4 8.