Janet Ruth Heller
How the Moon Regained Her Shape
Illustrated by Ben Hodson. 2006.
978-0-9764943-4-8 hb
978-1-934359-02-0 pb
Janet Ruth Heller takes the reader through a Native American folktale of How the Moon Regained Her Shape. The sun insults the moon and the moon disappears. A comet leads her to Rounded Arms a woman on earth. Many animal friends and a group of ladies tell the moon how much they need her moonlight. The moon grows and maintains a sense of self confidence. The bullying is in the past and she glows in the sky. The story includes the phases of the moon and Native names for them. In the back of the book, there are Moon Observations, a Native Calendar with moon names for each month, and How to Deal with Bullies. Ben Hodson’s art is entertaining and true to form. He won a Benjamin Franklin Award in 2007. How the Moon Regained Her Shape also won a Book Sense Pick (2006), a Children's Choices award (2007), and a Gold Medal in the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards (2007). The book was also a finalist for the Oregon Reading Association's 2009 Patricia Gallagher Picture Book Award. Many activities can be explored with this book.
Deborah Bates Cavitt, Educational Consultant, Duncanville, Texas.
