The Moon Keeper

Description

Fall in love with this moving and magical picture book about a sweet, conscientious polar bear, the moon, and the special connection they share. Illustrated with a classic feel and told with a refreshing voice, The Moon Keeper is a perfect bedtime story with gentle messages about friendship, impermanence, and nature that will appeal to fans of Kitten's First Full Moon, Rabbit Moon, and Little Bear. Emile, a very responsible polar bear, has a new job as moon keeper. He spends his evenings making sure the moon has everything it needs to shine its light over the night creatures. Night after night he keeps watch over the moon-clearing away the clouds and telling the fruit bats to move along when they play too close. Emile finds the moon nice to talk to in the stillness of the night. But what happens when the moon starts to change and slowly disappears In a lovely and touching series of small investigations, consultations with neighbors, and a fair amount of worry, he learns that in life, things come and go-and it's okay. Zosienka's debut as author-illustrator is the rare moon-themed picture book that shows the phases of the moon through brilliant childlike storytelling.

Zofia "Zosienka" Gibbs is an artist, illustrator and surface designer in London who specializes in intricate drawings and watercolors. She has collaborated with confectioners, high-street fashion brands, recording artists and independent filmmakers. She grew up in South Africa, Poland and the UK and draws from these varied landscapes in her practice. In 2018, Zosienka's first illustrated picture book Baby Bird was published by Lincoln First Editions.

"In Zosienka's solo debut, atmospheric gouache and colored pencil illustrations conjure a dreamy world drenched in rich blues and luminous whites, and lend Emile a quiet steadfastness...A gentle celestial tale that is both a clever introduction to lunar phases and a reassuring meditation on impermanence." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A charming addition to titles exploring the phenomenon of the moon's phases." - Kirkus Reviews "A celebration of the magnificence of the moon and the cyclical nature of the natural world. [...] The book also shares a gentle message about impermanence and offers reassurance to young children who are troubled by separation anxiety, particularly at bedtime. - Get Kids into Books blog "A wonderfully whimsical story...Zosienka's delicate gouache and color pencil spreads feature appealing anthropomorphized animals...Should still appeal to little fans of other lunar titles such as Jami Gigot's Mae and the Moon or Eric Carle's classic Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me." - School Library Journal