Review by Horn Book Review
Little Fox and his friends from Apples for Little Fox (rev. 11/17) return to solve another picture-book mystery. Before going to bed, Fox had polished his Detecting Magnifying Glass until it sparkled so that hed be ready for a new mystery. Sure enough, there is one: when he wakes up in the middle of the night, the stars are still in place outside his window, but the moon is gone. Determined to crack the case and find the moon, detective Fox sets out with a flashlight to get help from his friends Owl, Wolf, and Bear. But where is Rabbit? As it turns out, it is Rabbit who has taken the moon down to clean it and is busily scrubbing it in the sink. The animals cooperate, using a boom lift to put the now-shiny moon back in the sky (depicted in a vertical double-page spread). In her digital art, Trukhan uses geometric shapes (see the animals neat square homes with triangular roofs) and muted colors on matte paper for a simple and bold style, punctuated with pops of orange and bright blue. This will pair well in storytime with books that show the moon seemingly disappearing and returning for more scientific reasons. susan dove lempke March/April 2019 p 71(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A quiet mystery for bedtime that shines in its simplicity.It's spring-cleaning time, when everyone is hard at work. Little Fox, who loves mysteries and fancies himself a detective, polishes his Detecting Magnifying Glass as he dusts, so he's ready when a bad dream tells him the moon has been devoured by monsters! Sure enough, when he opens his eyes, the moon is gone. Out he goes into the nighttime woods to search for the missing moon, joined by nocturnal friends Owl, Wolf, and Bear. When they go to invite diurnal Rabbit to join their expedition, they discover him in his house, up to his armpits in soap suds, busily washing the moon! A 90-degree turn shows the friends returning the moon to the sky in a vertical illustration to demonstrate its distance. Trukhan's bold colors, attention to open space and object placement, and compelling use of geometric shapes evoke the bright village by day and the gently spooky woods by night in an appealing, retro graphic style. Inky, dark endpapers feature charmingly drawn white stars, setting the stage for the story. The understated gender bend in this picture book presents male characters busily cleaning, offering young children an alternative to traditional roles.Perfect for young sleuths with active imaginations who want to solve one more mystery before bedtime. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
