Monday, October 26, 2009

Harvest Moon

This is an exciting time of year, with the change of seasons: looking around and about at the glorious trees, discovering who "Jack Frost" is, and feeling awestruck at the size of the harvest moon.

I enjoyed sharing with first grade classes this week a book by Anne Hunter called Possum's Harvest Moon. Possum wants all his woodland friends come to his party before winter sends them underground or far away. They are all too busy getting ready for the long winter, until at the last moment they decide that a celebration is in order. The bold, bright harvest moon shines on their festivity.



It was a pleasure to be able to offer this book in both Japanese and English editions to our first graders. Our library has dozens of books in Japanese that can be matched, in our collection, with the English version. We try to increase this collection every year, adding good choices that support our efforts to create bridges between Japanese and English speakers. As well as books published in Japan, the collection features many American picturebook classics that have been translated into Japanese. We welcome suggestions for choices that would be good for our community!