The Moon Lady

Kayla Anthony
Early Childhood (Pre-k-4)
The book begins with a grandmother and her three grandchildren on a rainy afternoon. The three children are bored and making wishes. The grandmother then tells them a story of her childhood where she made wishes too. This particular story took place on the day of the Moon Festival in China. At night her family will get on a boat and she will see the Moon Lady. When she sees the Moon Lady, she will make her secret wish. During the day she is restless and cannot wait for the evening. Once on the boat, she has to wait a little longer and gets into mischief. She falls into the water and a fisherman pulls her out. She is unable to find the boat she was on and the fisherman takes her to the shore. Instead of waiting there, she wanders and finds the Moon Lady performing on stage. After the show, she finds the moon lady to tell her a wish. She finds out the Moon Lady performing is a man. She runs onto a bridge and yells her wish to the moon. Then her family appears at the bottom of the bridge. Once the grandma finishes her story, she tells the girls that the best wishes are the ones you can make true yourself. The girls make a wish then and dance outside under the moon with their grandmother.
This story is appropriate for students in kindergarten though fifth grade. To go along with the text the story has many colorful and detailed pictures. The pictures go along with the text and show the grandma as a young child in china. This can help show students what kinds of clothes were worn and the look and style of houses and towns. The story also tells about the culture. The grandmother’s mother tells her not to run because she is a girl and running is not the nature of a girl. The women drink tea and gossip. The men look at paintings and recite poetry. The book also explains one way to fish without hooks and nets. The story can also be used as a lesson with a moral. It can teach student to be careful what they wish for and to make your wish meaningful.