Sun and Moon Together

June 15, 2020
This return visit to Happy County following series opener Hello, World! (2020) includes informational sections along with brief narratives, search-and-find challenges, lots of labels, and many visual jokes. Once again there are 18 chapters, mostly two pages each. The action takes place over two days and two nights with the Sun and the Moon depicted in both factual and fanciful fashion. Small stories feature a grandmother's visit, a filmmaker's frustration, a hot air balloon mishap (solved with ingenuity by the Bright Brothers), an entrepreneurial snake gardener, and a backyard campout. Sections between the stories provide basic facts, with varying success, about the water cycle, photosynthesis, the phases (or "faces") of the moon, tides, planets, and solar power. In addition to feeling slightly arbitrary despite their ties to the moon and sun, these informational sections are generally too brief to be truly informative, most obviously in the explanation of low and high tides. Occasionally awkward phrasing further weakens the overall appeal. Despite these flaws, there is plenty to like about Long's busy artwork and the (mostly) anthropomorphic animals that populate his cheery community. Luckily, the format lends itself to reading sections independently as well as sequentially. Fans of the first book will be amused by spotting Farmer Del, still chasing L'il Beaky, on some spreads while readers new and old will enjoy catching the clever puns and learning a wide variety of vocabulary words. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) Overstuffed and not entirely successful, this follow-up is nonetheless fun and entertaining. (Picture book. 4-8)

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