“If I were….” Few phrases in the language do more to conjure a sense of limitless possibilities. A young girl gazing from her window at night imagines herself to be the moon who would “shine down my light / Right into your bedroom / To warm up the night.” Similar flights of fancy lead her to other rhymes, as she imagines becoming the ocean, a tree, a rainbow, and other beautiful manifestations of the natural world. Friends and family are always incorporated into her dreams, and in the end she asserts that just being herself in a place where her loved ones will all be together is the best of all possible worlds.

Fans of Sheree Fitch will recognize this book as a departure from her usual rollicking rhymes and manic scenarios, where monkeys invade kitchens and chaos prevails. If I Were the Moon is definitely a “settle down” book, an opportunity to encourage tranquillity at bedtime. Leslie Elizabeth Watts, who also collaborated with Fitch in There’s a Mouse in My House, has provided illustrations in restful tones of green and blue. These serene pictures frequently serve as engaging visual pauses between the rhyming lines, slowing down any inclination a reader might have to race to complete the text.

Although best enjoyed at the close of a hectic day, the patterned poetry in If I Were the Moon also offers a clear, motivating model for early student writing.