Commentaire descriptif

This book portrays idyllic moments spent playing in the yard under a full moon. Four barefoot children romp in a big garden, with sandbox, lily pool and a white gate, beyond which “the road winds into darkness.” The children’s observations are described in concrete yet poetic language. Simple sentences remark on their surroundings (“The giant moth zooms by looking for the moonflowers”) and their play (“We climb the tree just to be in a tree at night”). The illustrations mix charcoal drawings among full-colour scenes that are breathtaking in their saturation and light. In one spread, the children dance as they play follow-the-leader. Oversized garden plants dominate the foreground, each leaf-vein meticulously depicted. A cat’s eyes glow from the distant gate. In another image, the reluctant children are called inside; the moon appears pale above the house lights spilling onto the lawn. At the end, a charcoal drawing shows the kids tucked in their beds (“The bed is white and cool and the pillow as soft as the night”). But the radiant moon has the last word, glowing over the evening-purple peaks of the family home.