About.com Rating

Summary

Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey is a picture book that succeeds on a number of levels: It's a good story. The illustrations are memorable. Since much of the story takes place at night and the tone of the story is calm and thoughtful, Sun and Moon is an excellent bedtime story. In addition, there are several subtle messages intertwined in the story. I recommend Sun and Moon for children 3 to 6 years old.


The publisher recommends the book for ages 4 to 8, and I can certainly see it sparking interesting discussions at home and in the classroom.

Story

Moon wants to trade places with Sun for just one day. Too often, he finds night to be a boring and lonely time. He is envious when he thinks of Sun enjoying colorful flowers, children playing and more during the day. When Moon talks to Sun, Sun is only willing to trade on two conditions:

1. The trade will last not for a day but forever.
2. Before Moon makes the decision to trade, Sun tells him, "...you must spend an entire night in the sky looking very closely at the earth - closer than you ever have before."

What happens when Moon does just that and realizes all the beauty and life surrounding him at night makes for a very satisfying story. Young children will gain a new appreciation for night when you share Sun and Moon with them and may also, particularly with gentle prompting, pick up on the message of learning to appreciate what you have.

The IllustrationsandAuthor & Illustrator Lindsey Yankey

Lindsey Yankey makes use of a variety of art media to create her stylized and imaginative illustrations. Her strong, yet muted, color choices, fanciful details and dark blue background for the night scenes give the illustrations a dreamlike quality that complements the tale. See more of her Sun and Moon artwork on Lindsey Yankey’s website.

Author and illustrator Lindsey Yankey grew up in rural Kansas in a family in which art and creativity were encouraged. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Visual Communications, Illustration from The University of Kansas (KU) in 2009. Sun and Moon is the second children's picture book that Yankey has both written and illustrated. Bluebird, published in 2014, was her first. 

Yankey's art has been exhibited in both Italy and the United States. On her website Lindsey Yankey writes, “I love the mouthwatering juiciness of oil paint, the independence [of] watercolor, the history of found paper, the simplicity of pencil and pen, and all the rabbit holes that are revealed by carving linoleum block to create pattern and repetition.”

(Additional Sources:Simply Read Books, Sturdy for Common Things Interview 1/26/14, LinkedIn: Lindsey Yankey)

My Recommendation

Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey is one of those books that young children will want to hear and look at again and again and that parents will enjoy reading and sharing with them. For children who are a little apprehensive about the dark, Yankey provides some good reasons, in both words and pictures, to appreciate the dark night and its beauty. Yankey also provides a subtle message about the importance of really looking at and appreciating what you have rather than coveting what someone else has. Share Sun and Moon with your children as both a bedtime and an anytime story. (Simply Read Books, 2015. ISBN: 9781927018606)

Other Recommended Picture Books

For bedtime, I also recommend Goodnight Moon, the classic by Margaret Wise Brown, with illustrations by Clement Hurd. For reading aloud rhyming fun, I recommend The Gruffalo and Superworm by Julia Donaldson, both of which Axel Scheffler illustrated. Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is another classic I like, as are Crocklett Johnson'sHarold and the Purple Crayon, The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, with illustrations by Crockett Johnson, and The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.