Moon Pops

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It’s wonderful to walk down the Lower Elementary hallway and see the brightly colored art the students did in response to their summer book, Moon Pops by Heena Baek. Granny’s solution for getting the rabbits back to their home on the moon also involves shimmering lights and wondrous, sparkling orbs that shine against the cloudy, starless night sky. Dreamy illustrations are crafted from dioramas and cut-paper charcoal drawings, with a softly glowing candle-flame–colored moon and friends and neighbors who are a variety of creatures but all wearing summery human pajamas. I love that there are main stream books available for children that teach them about folklore from other cultures.

According to Korean legend, a rabbit lives in the moon, and this story puts a cute twist on the idea of the makeup of the moon.An Honor Book in the 2022 Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Awards, Moon Pops is a re-telling of a Korean folktale. And this summer, I read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, which might be one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum is very interesting story about three generations of Palestinian women, the younger ones now living in modern day Brooklyn, NY. All is finally quiet, until two rabbits come knocking at the door—they have come from the moon, which has melted away. Vanessa, an LE teacher, is reading The Wisdom Wheel by Alberto Villolda and re-reading Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain.

Baek’s use of onomatopoeia makes for a fun read-aloud for young readers, and her mixed media and collage illustrations result in a unique style that further captures the attention. On an evening so swelteringly hot the moon melts from the sky, Granny catches the moon drops and makes frozen treats that draw in the neighbors for relief.

My only quibble, was if the moon melted (and was thus liquid), but all the power went out, how did granny manage to freeze the moon pops? Granny gathers the moon drops and turns them into popsicles to keep her neighbors cool, but she keeps a few drops.

The moon is melting, but Granny saves the day in this picture book originally published in South Korea and translated into English by Jieun Kiaer. For the younger children, they could have activities with how the characters feel and what would make them feel that way.L. Konigsburg Elizabeth George Speare Elsewhere Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. She is an internationally acclaimed Korean children’s book author and illustrator and has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The reviews and comments posted on this site reflect the opinions of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Cannonball Read.