The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi

But the bunny continues to wonder about the neighbors' activities. When they reach home, the father rabbit tucks the bunny into bed. ?Most of our neighbors are already home.? The bunny can see their lights in the windows, and hear and smell what they might be doing: talking on the phone, pulling a pie out of the oven, having a party, saying goodbye. ?My mother carries me through the quiet streets,? the bunny explains. This book about the moon will bring joy and curiosity to young children.A mother rabbit and her young bunny are on their way home in the dark night. Blanca Gómez illustrates the story with creative collages, adding peeks into the windows to see parents putting children to bed, people looking out, dancers at nightly practice at the studio. The simple questions and answers, a quiet walk and then they're back at the stoop, yawning and ready for bed. They find the moon, and then, wow, it disappears. He learns that there is only one moon, and it has a reflection in puddles, and those 'glittery dots' are stars. This time in the early evening, a mother and her young boy leave their home to go for a walk to look for the moon. Each tells a tale about lovely, and interesting, neighborhoods in the night, people walking by, storefronts, and peeks into windows. I certainly love moon books and this is one to pair with Windows by Julia Denos and The Way Home In The Night by Akiko Miyakoshi. It’s also not easy to speak up when one just wants to crawl into a shell. It felt as if anyone reading it could gain from “her” perspective! Often, making friends doesn't take long but learning to keep them while not agreeing on everything they want to do is a challenge.

I learned it in art.” Another great thing is when Lily finally decides to make decisions for herself and even helps Darby make changes, too. Lily thinks, “I don’t know why Mom thinks that I don’t have perspective. Her mother claimed a wider perspective and said she knew things would get better. Lily was talking to her mother about how much she hates this new place. One thing I enjoyed was seeing the parent attitudes, some looser than others, but often with a humorous slant. Some fun comic illustrations (supposedly done by Lily, budding artist) add to the fun, ghost stories surrounding the lake and Darby’s house (being written down by her dad), and lots and lots of frogs add to the storyline. There are ghosts, name-calling, a nice teacher and a not-so-nice recess lady, and strains of friendships we adults may not always realize happens. Jill takes on her old role as the boss and getting the others in a lot of trouble. As the year moves on, Lily does become friends with Darby who lives on the other side of the lake where Lily has moved, but when Darby’s long-time friend Jill moves back from London, the days take on new flavors.

The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi