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Summary
Summary
Every night, the moon outside Willoughby's window gets smaller, and smaller, and smaller . . . until one night it disappears!
But Willoughby isn't afraid of the dark. Not really. He just wants to know where the moon went.
When he finds it in the most surprising place, he sets off on a magical adventure and meets a new friend who seems to be scared of lots of things--moon buggy rides, space pods, big rocks. . . . But it's Willoughby who has to overcome his own biggest fear in order to help his friend.
A "stunning" (School Library Journal) and "luminous" (Booklist) picture book.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this follow-up to Willoughby & the Lion (HarperCollins, 2009), Foley offers another stunning visual look into a child's imagination. This time, Willoughby struggles to go to sleep because the moon has disappeared and the night is too dark. Perplexed and a bit frightened, he sees a light coming from his closet and, inside, discovers the moon with a giant snail on it, looking for his lost silver ball. The search for the ball leads the duo through all the moon's nooks and crannies and eventually back to the security of Willoughby's own bed. In the tradition of Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955) and Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (1963, both HarperCollins), this story wholeheartedly buys into a child's imagined world as an escape from an uncertain reality. But truly it is the illustrations that shine. The two-tone pictures layer black and silver ink in vibrant Pop-style line drawings over digital prints to transport readers into Willoughby's dark world, where he searches for light. The level of detail in the snail's map of the moon alone sets the book above most of its bedtime-story contemporaries. Foley's latest is a must-have addition to the canon of stories of little boys struggling to go to sleep.-Sarah Townsend, Norfolk Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Willoughby, who's afraid of the dark, discovers the moon in his closet one night, along with a giant snail that is searching for a lost silver ball. The snail is scared, so Willoughby takes charge, searching for the ball via moon buggy and a space pod ("Heights are no big deal," he says). Foley trades the gold metallic highlights of Willoughby and the Lion for silver in this outing, which just hints at an otherworldly possibility of danger (which is never to be found). When the snail searches for the ball in a cave, it's Willoughby's turn to be afraid, but the reward for his bravery is a freestyle ball game with the snail's friends. Foley's stylized dreamscape offers the comforting illumination of a sleek nightlight. Ages 4-7. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In this Willoughby & the Lion follow-up, Willoughby finds the missing moon in his closet, on which sits a giant snail; together they traverse the moon and the boy faces his fear of the dark. There's a haphazard quality to the story--perhaps Foley's real interest is his intriguing art, which has the look of black-and-white designs on tinfoil. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Foley's follow-up to Willoughby & the Lion (2009) is every bit as luminous and that's meant literally. With blacks so absolute they shine, and silvers so shimmering they practically act as mirrors, the book is a visual dazzler. Willoughby wonders where the waning moon has gone to before discovering it inside of his closet, along with a giant snail that has lost his ball. Much of the book's charm is that none of this weirdness is explained, and soon Willoughby is racing all over the moon on a search that ends in a serious game of snail-ball. Bizarre, idiosyncratic, and sure to be adored by the right kind of kid.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
