Brian D. McClure

**please note that my children's reactions are reflected in my Kiddie Korner Reviews.

My kids' POV:

They really enjoyed the illustrations. The story kinda frightened them, but in some ways my kids are VERY sensitive. They were worried that the scenario presented in the book would actually happen. (which in one I guess, is a good thing?)

My POV:

I must agree that this one was a little on the "rough" side. I was happy to be able to sit and discuss this one with my older child, as she did have concerns after reading the book. She was worried about what would really happen if the sun and moon "fought." BUT, the story had a much deeper meaning to it. It included how fighting is born from fear and how that fear can affect everyone touched by it. It's a book that I would say to read WITH your kids as I think they'll have questions.

Overall, a good book that I think would best be read with an adult to field and questions.… (mehr)

*Like all my Kiddie reviews my reviews reflect my children's thoughts.
I agreed with the kids on the illustrations...gorgeous stuff! The story's meaning was easily identifiable...equality between all; no one is better than anyone else! White, black, green, or purple; it doesn't matter because inside we're all the same.
I think there's an interesting thing about what Brian does with his books. No matter what the characters are, whether they are frogs, raindrops, birds, or whatever; Brian takes an "intermission" during the story. He uses this "intermission" to relate the characters behavior to what we see between humans. I thought that was pretty unique!
Overall, I think this was a good book. I think Mr. McClure's work is something that can be used by mom's (or educator's) to teach children valuable lessons.… (mehr)

Back Cover: It happened one day right out of the blue, the Sun told the Moon he was tired and through. “What do you mean?” the Moon asked the Sun, “That would be the end of everything, and that wouldn't be fun!”

Summary: The Sun and the Moon both serve important roles. The sun lights our skies during the day, and it also provides heat. The moon lights our night skies. So, in The Sun and the Moon, when the Sun decides, on a whim, that's he is tired of providing light and heat, the Moon doesn't understand. This is the beginning of an argument between the Sun and the Moon – an argument in which they call each other bad names and say bad things about each other.

When we give human qualities to inanimate objects, this is called personification. The author is giving human-like qualities to the Sun and the Moon. His lesson here is that, like people, when the Sun and the Moon argue, they do so out of fear. And the consequences to the actions of the Sun and Moon are huge! First there was no light. The Moon explains this (yells, really) to the Sun, and says this also means there's no heat. The illustrations, which are dark and spooky-looking, show the vegetables covered by ice and the frost in the air. The pictures display a frozen animal, frozen water, and a frozen butterfly. My daughters both inhaled audibly when they saw these pictures because they really depict the severity of the problem exactly as the author is depicting it using words. But neither the Sun nor the Moon notice the problem, since they are too busy arguing.

Here the author interrupts the story to explain the statements about fear from a few pages back. McClure explains that fears, which are hidden deep inside us until they get so big they cannot hide anymore, cause arguments and wars and crime (p. 15). These fears stress us until something makes them come to the surface, and when that happens, we get angry and loud and we start blaming others. While the statement made by the author does seem to make sense, this is an awkward way to “leave” the story and have a true-life lesson.

Back to the story. Whew! Finally the Sun and the Moon get tired of fighting, and reach a point where they're both uncomfortable, and they're both trying to figure out how the argument gets to this point – where they hurt each other's feelings and they feel sad. This is where they realize how connected they are (and we are as people). They realize that by saying bad things and calling each other bad names, it only makes them feel worse to say those things! So while anger and hurt feelings are good emotions, we should never get to the point where we bad-mouth another person (or the Sun or the Moon) because of our feelings. Then the apologies start. And the Sun and the Moon notice what has happened to the earth. At last...
So they get back to work, just in the nick of time. The earth begins to thaw and everything returns to normal. Then the prayers begin. The author ends the story with some uplifting words of encouragement for the kids (and adults) reading the story. Both of my daughters liked hearing these.

This book is a little bit difficult to get through. My children are younger, ages 4 and 6, and they asked many questions throughout the story. Generally, when they ask questions, they are really listening and the questions and answer contribute to the story. However, in this case, they just weren't understanding the lesson, and some of the words and how they were phrased, were just too much above their comprehension level. So, for older children, this may not be an issue. I wasn't expecting it to be an issue since the back cover states the book is for children up to age 100, but it was. Also, the dark pictures, while they did go with the theme of the story, they didn't keep the interest of my daughters. However, they were able to decipher the expressions on the faces of the Sun and the Moon. There is definitely a lesson is this story, just the way it was told was not for us. Again, if they were older, it may have worked better.

About the Author: Brian D. McClure is the author of several children's books and is the creator of the Universal Flag, which he created to honor both the uniqueness and commonality of all people.

About the Illustrator: Buddy Plumlee's work is inspired by his spiritual connection with Nature, which allows him to intuitively create masterful pieces that inspire symbolism and Truth.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (mehr)