Rylant, C. (2004). Long Night Moon. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. I recently read another selection written by Cynthia Rylant entitled Long Night Moon. It was illustrated by Mark Siegel. Rylant’s writing is true to her craft in that she doesn’t feel bound by traditional writing styles or more common grammatical usage of words. The placement of the text on each full page spread is thought out, so it does not interfere with how the illustration communicates to the reader just as the words themselves do. The flow of the book truly begins on the initial end pages. So the growing flow of the opening tone of the book’s story is uninterrupted, the page with copyright and official book information does not appear until after the story is told by being placed in the back of the book.
There is a playful version of cursive font used in the text, almost to set a scene that this was written by hand onto the pages, homespun like an orally told story that is passed on to generations to seek meaning in. The story is actually told as originating from the Native Americans who named each full moon a particular name, fitting to the time of year and season. The color of the font itself is in various pastels to compliment the text and spread's main idea. Each month has a particular name for the moon, which is highlighted with a contrasting, bolder pastel colored text to emphasize its presence. Names of the moons include, “Strawberry Moon” for June, “Harvest Moon” for August, and “Thunder Moon” for July. The few lines describing the moon on each page spread is sparse, but in classic Rylant crafting, paints a visualization that starts with the illustration on the page and comes alive with the particular selected words, with their spacing and line skips punctuating and pausing the reader’s rate of reading. A wonderful example comes from July:
“In July,
the Thunder Moon trembles
shudders,
and disappears
in a thick black sky.
It listens to the
clouds
Beat their drums.”
I saw on a website called kidsreads.com a letter that Cynthia Rylant wrote for the site that’s posted to read. In it, she discusses a variety of things about herself, things that she likes in life, and she goes on to mention how she enjoys creating the text for picture books. “I especially love writing books that are illustrated. They are so beautiful to see, the paper is so nice and shiny, the colors so beautiful and rich. Picture books glow in your hand, and they never get boring (if they are done well).” Having that prior knowledge of Rylant’s viewpoints, I thought of that particular quote as a read through Long Night Moon. The text figuratively and literally has a glow to it, thanks to the soft moonlight. Even though the entire book is in a rotating scene of darkness, light resonates from each spread’s full moon, and illuminates text's specific touches throughout the layout. The light punctuates the darkness, and gives the reader a safe feeling simply by the softness and light provided by the moon.
The illustrator, Mark Siegel, uses his artistry with light in the pitch darkness to tell the story on each page. The illumination from the moon plays upon the scene below, which is really just a continual rotation of the same scene, the reader "moving" in an orbit just as the Earth does during the course of a year with 12 full moons. I found it interesting that after I googled Mark Siegel's name and went to Wikipedia, there was the cover of Long Night Moon with a few other picture book covers that he drew, but that the style of the other covers were in a very different, more graphic cartoon style. It said in the text that he is noted for his work with creating graphic novels for all ages, which are really more lengthy comic books. The art Siegel created for Long Night Moon is clearly uncharacteristic of his usual and favored method of illustrating. What was especially interesting was his note in the back, at the top of the book informational sheet entitled, “The Adventure of Illustrating Long Night Moon.” In it, Siegel discusses how he was drawn to Rylant’s writing, and struggled to find what he felt would be the best medium to draw with. After experimenting with several mediums, Siegel still wasn’t satisfied. He began to take evening walks on a country farm and made himself take in the nature around him. It’s truly moments of “stopping to smell the roses,” to jump off the Ferris wheel of life and really take in the complexity of nature. Once Siegel did that, he opened up to what he should capture about the moon. While exploring mediums again, he found that charcoals captured the moon: "It returned me to that velvety mysterious light that softens everything, bathing nature in a dreamy luminosity.” When I read that, I thought about how I was really intrigued to hear about the illustrator’s train of thought process to interpret an author’s words, to give them the right justice and express the author’s lyricism and feelings on their behalf with their own artistry entwined. Sometimes authors discuss their motivations and inspirations for stories, whether in an author’s note in a book or in an interview, but it is rare to hear the illustrator’s point of view. That was intriguing, especially since Rylant’s works are illustrated by numerous artists.
I couldn’t wait to use this book with my class this week! The text is short, and to an average kid, they would have independently flipped through the book in no more than ten minutes. At this point of the year, my students are at that wonderful time of year that they talk “book talk” and get the big picture and all the details that go along with it! When I began to introduce the book, I didn’t even have a chance to say who the author was, because one of my keen kids saw in the small script on the cover, “This is a Cynthia Rylant book! I haven’t seen that one before!” I love the fire these kids have not only for books, but for the stylings of favorite authors, knowing that if they have savored selections from them before, that they are most likely in for another enjoyable journey. My kids were into it the moment I opened up the the initial end pages, and I let them chat to a neighbor about the setting and what they thought the book would be about, because they were buzzing with curiosity after I read the interior flap of the cover and turned to the title page.
After letting a few partner pairs share briefly with the whole group about their predictions, I began to read. When I got to the first page of text which states that the Native Americans gave names to each full moon, they chatted to revise their predictions, and shared with the class that they thought each spread would be for a month and the name would fit the month’s weather and season. A student also commented that they noticed the same gazebo in the three pages so far, and that we were zooming closer to it, and that its place on the page spread was moving. At this point, I thought to myself, I wish this was being videotaped! These children were getting concepts some adults wouldn’t pay attention to! Another noticed that the zooming up reminded them of when we read Rylant’s Scarecrow back in the Fall, when we were first studying Rylant’s writings. A neighbor noted that he remembered how we zoomed up close and far away for our individual illustrations of scarecrows that we did to go with their poetry in the hall showcase.
We discussed with neighbors and sometimes as a whole group each page spread. They noted things such as the words she chose were the main ideas of what was shining with light in the pictures, and that it fit the season and time of year. A partner pair caught on as the big tree moved in location on a sequence of spreads that it was like we were standing in one spot, just turning around with slow steps to observe different parts of the very same place. That’s when I explained that they were indeed right, and I had one student stand up and turn in a 360 degree manner, and we’ve reference that all week for fun in class. Students noticed how the moonlight glowed on the nest of baby birds, how the wording and light on the “Strawberry Moon” spread for June was pink, echoing the pinkness of the inside of a real strawberry. They also discussed with partners how in real life when the moon is closer, you can see the craters and ruts just like they could see in the “Acorn Moon” spread. One student also mentioned that the light coming from the window of the little house was warm and welcoming, and that it made them feel safe.
Before I knew it, a book that I thought might take my bright group 15 minutes to enjoy had bypassed 35 minutes. They were engrossed in the book, and I was engrossed in their ideas and observations. I was so proud of them! They get it! At this time of year, it makes me eager to share more than one book a day (when I can) with them, for they are as ravenous as I am when it comes to exploring great books! What fun!
Check out Cynthia Rylant’s letter at Kidsreads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-rylant-cynthia.asp
Here’s the entry on Mark Siegel on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Siegel
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