Yellow Moon, Apple Moon, Time to sleep, See you soon.” So begins this rhythmic picture book, which tells of the nighttime ritual of a child as she prepares for bed. Her world is small and secure – we meet her house and her tree, her pillow and bed, and the book Daddy read. A pet kitten is near and Mommy’s song hovers in the air around her. Above all rides the moon, appearing on virtually every page as the world sleeps and barefooted angel children soar in the sky. Soothing to read, the book recreates the childish need to chronicle what is important and dear. 

B.C. poet and novelist Pamela Porter won the 2005 Governor General’s Award for her second young adult novel, The Crazy Man. But going from YA fiction to writing your first picture book isn’t necessarily an easy step, and Porter hasn’t made the transition smoothly. Inspired by the culture of New Mexico, where she grew up, Porter includes at the end of the book the lyrics and music for the traditional New Mexican lullaby that the mother sings, but readers who are unfamiliar with the tune and cannot read music may feel left out of the loop. Nor is it clear why the author compares the moon to an apple, though this conceit is taken up by the illustrations, which portray the little heroine asleep on a floating apple in the sky. Furthermore, I found the image of (dead?) barefooted angel children vaguely unsettling.

Ontario painter, illustrator, and musician Matt James’s work here is soft and warmly colourful. His technique of giving facial features to inanimate objects  reminds us of how small children often anthropomorphize the world around them, and gives the impression that all are watching over the soon-to-be-asleep little girl. Skewed angles and wide, flowing background brushstrokes lend movement and emotion to the illustrations and rock the reader along with the gentle rhyming text. I found some of the distorted images and facial features disturbing, but Yellow Moon, Apple Moon has its own brand of charm, and many young readers will identify with the contented child sleeping peacefully under the moon