Long Night Moon

Long Night Moon
By Cynthia Rylant
Illustrated by Mark Siegel

Long Night Moon captures the power of a picture book! I found Rylant’s lyrical phrases descriptive and inspiring, but powerful when coupled with Siegel’s illustrations. At the end of the book, Sigel retells his challenge in choosing a medium for his artwork. Over a several month time period, Siegel walked at night noting the details of the moonlight. During his moonlight walks, he decided on charcoal as his medium, and concluded that the moon provided a “velvety mysterious light that softens everything, bathing nature in a dreamy luminosity.” Don’t you just love that phrase? I feel as if Siegel created each of his illustrations, with the previously described admiration for the moon. Whether the full moon is hiding behind the clouds, providing bright light in a low sky, or shining high in the sky, the full bleed pictures invite you to gaze upon the moon with a sense of awe. (The book also credits Siegel’s pictures with pencil, pastel on Arches paper and digital color. I am not familiar with Arches paper, but I am guessing that the paper provided the evenly dotted texture to the pictures?)

I notice that Siegel chooses to begin the story at dusk with a mother dressed in her winter coat and scarf, holding her baby, who is bundled for the chilly air. The mother is standing in a gazebo on her farm, gazing at the January’s Stormy Moon. On the next page, as dusk turns to dark, the mother walks the short distance to the warm and cozy farm home. We do not see the mother and child again until the end of the story, when we are introduced to December’s Long Night Moon. Instead, the months between January to December, and the corresponding pictures focus on the plants, and animals on the farm. I think the mood of the story is better achieved by focusing on nature, for the journey Rylant and Siegel takes us on during each month helps the audience’s appreciation of nature’s moon grow as well. Even though her text poetically describes the plants and animals of each month, I wonder if Rylant intended for most of her picture book to exclude humans, or was this an interpretation Siegel created himself… doesn’t Rylant usually focus on the home, family, and love in her books?

I enjoyed Rylant’s connection to the Native Americans in the first stanza in the text. It begins, “Long ago Americans gave names to the full moons they watched throughout the year. Each month had a moon. And each moon had its name…” To me, it sets the tone for the book, while also giving meaningful purpose for the naming of each full moon. When I think of the characteristics of Native American stories, I think of their utmost respect and appreciation of nature. Even though Rylant’s text looks simple and minimal, her concise wording and line breaks successfully describing the magical events of nature in each month. My favorite month is December’s Long Night Moon. Naming it a faithful moon, Rylant captures the essence of the long winter night.

This book is yet another stellar picture book by Rylant. I continue to be amazed by her craft, and have placed this book, along with many of her others, on my list to read and share with students.