![]() ![]() I thought Moonlight Shadow failed to capture the same charm. ![]() I thought Banana Yoshimoto's portrayal of the nuances of grief was really thought provoking and original. ![]() Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun." She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."ĭespite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)Īlong with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Savage sure to delight readers who might enjoy it as a bedtime read.Banana Yoshimoto ( よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. This is yet another classic with a unique appearance from Stephen A. The text ultimately reassures the child who has been anticipating its arrival and its departure. The author/illustrator has clearly spent time outdoors in the evening, waiting for the moon to fill the skies and paint everything around it before giving way to the early morning hours and the promise of sunshine. It is obvious that the book designer paid careful attention to the color of the fonts used on each page, sometimes white and sometimes black, complementing the images but never overwhelming them. The ink and linotype illustrations are unique and easy on the eye while somehow fitting the story and the ever-encroaching moonlight perfectly. Older readers will readily identify the mysterious "something" that is creeping across the horizon and onto various places, but younger ones may not guess what it is until they reach the final pages. The author carefully chooses words that build suspense and evoke a sense of mystery while playing to readers' or listeners' imagination for instance, "swinging" (unpaged), "slithering" (unpaged), "tumbling" (unpaged), "swirling" (unpaged), and "washing out" (unpaged). Because the book is certainly worth reading and sharing as a read aloud, perhaps NOT showing the cover or at least the title before beginning the reading would be helpful. This picture book is a 3.5 for me, and I agree with another reviewer who pointed out that the cover and title give the mystery away. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given. ![]() I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. It is a book that shows that there is delight in the darkness because there is the light of the moonlight. It is an unusual book in that it doesn't contain an array of joyful colors and happy, lively critters. Intended to bring encouragement to fearful children or perhaps to simply teach the beauty of the spreading moonlight on our world, the story and pictures can bring joy. It simply shows that in the black darkness there is light that slips, creeps, descends, and lights the darkness. In Moonlight the artist/author uses a few words to tell how light seeps and creeps into the black darkness revealing blues, teals, and greens with the whiteness that is moonlight. As the black darkness descends outside and the child prepares for bed and a night of sleep in the black darkness that is his or her bedroom, a dread of the black darkness can also creep into the depths of that sweet little one's mind and heart. ![]()
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