Baby Wants the Moon - Hardcover

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Murdocca offers a different take on a familiar subject in this amusing and imaginative look at the new-baby blues. Sonny fantasizes (or dreams) that he's being crowded out by his baby sister. Casual remarks by friends and family members cause him to worry that Baby will grow too quickly...and too large! Sure enough, she grows out of her crib, out of her room, out of the house, and even out of this world. Sonny's nightly visions are balanced and foreshadowed by his waking conversations, and much of the humor arises from his misinterpretation of other people's comments. In the story's final fantasy sequence, Baby has begun to float up into the sky, hungry for the moon, and the boy is surprised to find that he misses her. Awakened from his dream by his mother, he is pleased and proud to have a chance to hold Baby, and comforted to find that she is still his little sister and that there is room for both of them in the family. This blend of everyday experiences and exaggeration is used to good effect in both the text and illustrations. Watercolor and colored-pencil pictures fill the pages with a recognizable suburban world as well as a luminous nightscape of magic and mystery. A pleasing mix of the familiar and the unexpected, filled with warmth and love.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-7. Showing the influence of Sendak and Van Allsburg, this simply written, well-paced story deals with the concerns a new baby brings to a family. Worried that his sister eats too much, Sonny sneaks into her room late at night. Sure enough, Baby is so big she fills up the crib. In the morning, though, Baby is pint-sized again. This pattern is repeated as Baby grows bigger and hungrier with each passing night, until she floats to the sky ready to eat the moon. Then, it's up to Sonny to save her. The text has good structure and dialogue: "`Mom,' said Sonny, `can a baby grow into a giant?' `Some do,' said Mom.'" Still, this would have worked better if Sonny's fear of displacement had been addressed more directly. The surrealistically edged compositions in rich nocturnal hues feature unusual slanting angles and intriguing perspectives, and, of course, a very big baby. Julie Corsaro