Wait Till the Moon Is Full

Children's book "Wait Till The Moon Is Full" by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Garth Williams, is a classic book for both small children and their parents. Children will be enchanted with the story of a little boy raccoon growing up under a big warm chestnut tree. There he lives with his mother as she goes about her days cooking, washing, ironing, sewing and singing him raccoon songs about the night and the moon. Little Raccoon lives like a little child with his toys (notice especially the picture of the enchanting toy raccoon on wheels with a pull-string) who pesters his mother with innumerable questions about the night because he has already seen the day. Mother Raccoon, however, instructs him to wait and sings him songs of the moon when she can't answer all of his questions at once. Finally the moon is full and, with his mother's graceful permission, off Little Raccoon goes to enjoy the night and to learn about his new and bigger world. The adult reader and Mother Raccoon, however, understand what a child cannot: that Little Raccoon must grow up enough before he can safely go out into the world to enjoy its pleasures and to cope with its perils. The charm and lessons lie in the writing and illustrations. Can't we just imagine how thin a moon is when it is as "thin as the curve of a raccoon's whisker?" Or understand Little Raccoon's impatience when told to "wait until the moon is full?" Or to feel delight when the little raccoon's patience is rewarded and he can go out into the night to meet new friends and play in the moonlight? The appealing narrative and delightful illustrations, many in black and brown ink, will engross and entertain both the small child longing to explore the world and the adult reader who more fully understands the world's joys and sorrows and rich possibilities. This is a most highly recommended book for small children and the adults who read to them, the little raccoons and the mother raccoons in all of us. ( amazon customer)