Papa Please Get The Moon For Me

Rating:
Summary: WHAT A SWEET BOOK!!
Review: Wouldn't it be wonderful to get the moon?!! Well you can in this charming book. My 3 year old loves it. Pages open up to further discribe how far away the moon really is. My daughter is always looking for the moon.. jumping ... trying to get it :)

Rating:
Summary: Let your mind wonder!
Review: Wouldn't it be wonderful to get the moon?!! Well you can in this charming book. My 3 year old loves it. Pages open up to further discribe how far away the moon really is. My daughter is always looking for the moon.. jumping ... trying to get it :)

Rating:
Summary: Blue moon, you see it standing alone
Review: You hear about this sometimes. An artist becomes so famous and influential that they're eventually able to go back to some of their earlier works and (to their mind) improve them. Steven Spielberg did it with "E.T." Singer/songwriters are constantly reinventing their old classics. Eric Carle did it with "Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me". And though I usually object heartily to artistic preferences changing old classics that technically belong to the masses (ya hear that Speilberg???), in Carle's case I'm willing to make an exception. Changing a mildly interesting story into a complicated (but hearty) pseudo pop-up book, Carle has recreated his art the only way an artist should: he has made it better.

Following in the tradition of such children-asking-their-parents-for-the-moon classics as "Many Moons" (highly recommended!), in this simple story a girl asks her father to please get her that large circular piece of rock in the sky. The father complies, hauling out the longest ladder anyone has ever seen and taking it to the tallest mountain in the world. Initially depressed by the fact that the moon is (surprise!) too large to bring to his daughter, the father is eventually comforted by the moon itself. It tells the man that if he just waits for it to wax and wane, it'll become a manageable size in no time. This turns out to be the case and the little girl is delighted when the father hands her the sliver that is the moon to play with.

The book flap says that by reading this book, children will come to realize that, "even a seemingly unreachable goal can actually be attained". I dunno about that. If that's the moral of this story, then I want no part of it. No, the message I received from this tale is that a man will sometimes move heaven and earth to bring his children the things they want the most in the world. They might not always succeed, but if a man were able to get the moon for his daughter, he'd do so.

Carle's illustrations are classic Carle. I'm personally a little lukewarm on him. The pictures here are a little more swirly and paint based than his usual cut paper concoctions. The book flap mentions that for the reissue of this book Carle, "created new illustrations for his original story", so I do not know how much he has changed. If the pictures are lovely, however, they are merely a compliment to the book's real joys. Pages in this story fold out to reveal the enormity of the father's task. A single ladder, once the pages are unfolded, takes over a four page spread. And the moon itself, when at its full capacity, opens up to become larger than the book that holds it. The effect is stunning and enjoyable for those kids that love interactive pictures. Nicest of all is the durability of the paper used for these effects. I'm sure we've all seen the effects a three-year old can wreak on a pop-up book it loves. I took this book, published in 1986, from my local library and the pages STILL work just as well as the day they were made. If that's not sturdiness, I don't know what is.

Should you be scientifically inclined and you object to such notions as a moon being physically smaller when it is but a crescent, avoid this story. If, on the other hand, you enjoy a good fold out pop-up book enlivened by colorful cut-out illustrations as much as the next guy, then I highly recommend this delightful piece of lunar propaganda. It is certain to be beloved of millions of star gazing children worldwide.

Rating:
Summary: Blue moon, you see it standing alone
Review: You hear about this sometimes. An artist becomes so famous and influential that they're eventually able to go back to some of their earlier works and (to their mind) improve them. Steven Spielberg did it with "E.T." Singer/songwriters are constantly reinventing their old classics. Eric Carle did it with "Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me". And though I usually object heartily to artistic preferences changing old classics that technically belong to the masses (ya hear that Speilberg???), in Carle's case I'm willing to make an exception. Changing a mildly interesting story into a complicated (but hearty) pseudo pop-up book, Carle has recreated his art the only way an artist should: he has made it better.

Following in the tradition of such children-asking-their-parents-for-the-moon classics as "Many Moons" (highly recommended!), in this simple story a girl asks her father to please get her that large circular piece of rock in the sky. The father complies, hauling out the longest ladder anyone has ever seen and taking it to the tallest mountain in the world. Initially depressed by the fact that the moon is (surprise!) too large to bring to his daughter, the father is eventually comforted by the moon itself. It tells the man that if he just waits for it to wax and wane, it'll become a manageable size in no time. This turns out to be the case and the little girl is delighted when the father hands her the sliver that is the moon to play with.

The book flap says that by reading this book, children will come to realize that, "even a seemingly unreachable goal can actually be attained". I dunno about that. If that's the moral of this story, then I want no part of it. No, the message I received from this tale is that a man will sometimes move heaven and earth to bring his children the things they want the most in the world. They might not always succeed, but if a man were able to get the moon for his daughter, he'd do so.

Carle's illustrations are classic Carle. I'm personally a little lukewarm on him. The pictures here are a little more swirly and paint based than his usual cut paper concoctions. The book flap mentions that for the reissue of this book Carle, "created new illustrations for his original story", so I do not know how much he has changed. If the pictures are lovely, however, they are merely a compliment to the book's real joys. Pages in this story fold out to reveal the enormity of the father's task. A single ladder, once the pages are unfolded, takes over a four page spread. And the moon itself, when at its full capacity, opens up to become larger than the book that holds it. The effect is stunning and enjoyable for those kids that love interactive pictures. Nicest of all is the durability of the paper used for these effects. I'm sure we've all seen the effects a three-year old can wreak on a pop-up book it loves. I took this book, published in 1986, from my local library and the pages STILL work just as well as the day they were made. If that's not sturdiness, I don't know what is.

Should you be scientifically inclined and you object to such notions as a moon being physically smaller when it is but a crescent, avoid this story. If, on the other hand, you enjoy a good fold out pop-up book enlivened by colorful cut-out illustrations as much as the next guy, then I highly recommend this delightful piece of lunar propaganda. It is certain to be beloved of millions of star gazing children worldwide.