Bear wakes from his long winter sleep and finds a red balloon.
"It was red as a berry and round like the moon with a long silver string drifting brightly in the breeze"
The little bear wants to play with this bright red thing. The balloon and the bear romp through the forest all day and into the night.
"And when evening became night it glowed softly in the moonlight."
The bear takes his new friend on a tour of his world - the trees, hills, waterfall and grasses. Bear loves the balloon so he reaches out to give it a hug and ... uh-oh!
Bear tries to fix the balloon "but nothing bought it back."
With a heavy heart he sits down and looks up at the sky. The full moon rises over the lake and "gently stroked his fur." Bear is comforted.
"Good bear. Kind bear. Don't worry bear."
The emotional arc of this story is just perfect and the illustrations are enchanting. One of my passions is the importance of providing young readers with picture books filled with wonderful art. The Bear and the Moon is almost tactile. Cátia Chien is originally from Brazil she now lives in New York.
In this video Matthew Burgess talks about his book. And here is his web site. When you find this book be sure to look under the dust jacket - there is a surprise! Oh and the end papers are perfect too! In this video Cátia talks about her processes and Matthew shares some pages.
As delightful as a balloon—but with more weight. Kirkus Star Review
Here are two more books by Matthew Burgess:
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