Picture Book Month Day 24

"One night bear looked up at the sky and thought, wouldn't it be nice 

to give the moon a birthday present."

Happy Birthday Moon is my book today for Picture Book Month and, well yes, today it is actually Happy Birthday to me too!  Happy Birthday Moon was first published in 1982. It is one book from the series about Moonbear by Frank Asch. I even own the toy! AND yes you can still buy some books from this series although the paperback editions are a little expensive here in Australia.

I have read Happy Birthday Moon to hundreds of Kindergarten children. Most listeners do catch on to the echo early in the story but I delight in watching other children gradually work out the magic in this book. On the nights when we have a full moon (I can see this out of my kitchen window) I often have a little chat with the moon just as Moonbear does in this story.  I love his kind spirit and his generous efforts to give the moon exactly the right birthday gift. This book is simply perfect to read aloud to children aged 3+.

Here is a video of the whole book (it is a little rushed).  Read more about Skyfire here. 

Skyfire by Frank Asch

Image Source Broadcast Cover

Yesterday was National Find a Rainbow Day.  I love this idea. Looking for rainbows seems like a beautiful thing to do especially during these difficult times around the world. Rainbows have always seemed some how quite miraculous to me.

Moonbear has never seen a rainbow. He thinks the sky is on fire. He rushes off with his pot of water and after climbing a hill he tosses the water at the rainbow. Just at the moment the rainbow fades away.  Little Bird knows the truth about rainbows. He knows you can find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and this is exactly what happens. Little Bird calls out to Moonbear and tells him to come over to the hollow tree. Inside they find honey!

"Bear made honey cakes.
After dinner they went for a boat ride.
For a long while they were very quiet.
Then Little Bird said, 'So it was a rainbow, and I found the pot of gold!'
'Oh no, it wasn't,' replied Bear.
'It was a sky fire ...  and I put it out!"

I love all the Moonbear books but my favourite is Happy Birthday Moon. This week we will have a full moon and as usual I will take a little time to talk to the moon just like Moonbear.

The series of Moonbear books by Frank Asch all contain four squares on the first page which explain or show the science principal behind the story. Here  are two examples:

This second one shows the changing seasons from the book Mooncake.

You are sure to need more rainbow books - my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has set up a Rainbows Pinterest collection with lots of great titles to explore.