A Big Mooncake for Little Star Book Review

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

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Genre: Fiction

Introduction and Justification:           

            A Big Mooncake for Little Star is a wonderful fantasy book. Lin won numerous awards for her book including the 2019 Caldecott Honor, ALSC Notable Children’s Book, as well as eight other awards (Junior Library Guild, 2018). This book is a simple fantasy story. The characters are stars who make and eat the moon that they call a Mooncake. The cover uses bold colors, with a diverse female protagonist. The night sky shines brightly compared to the cake. This book was also appropriate for elementary school age. Lin’s book is perfect for elementary, telling a story, connecting with students, and reaching all younger students.

Evaluation of book:

Lin uses black and yellow to tell her story. The colors she chose mirror the night sky. Even the color of the outfits shows the mom and daughter in star outfits. The black background looks like the night sky. The crumbs of the mooncake look like the stars far away. She uses the bright contrast to mirror the night sky. This use of color allows the reader to envision a little star eating the moon. This bold contrast draws the readers eye in.

As Little Star sneakily eats the moon cake you can see the phases of the moon. Lin uses shape to show the progression. At the beginning of the story the moon is full and a circle. As she eats the moon begins to wane. Eventually there is no moon left. The story is circular so both end pages show a round moon cake being made. At the beginning of the story there are circles around Little Star. This circle represents the full moon cake. As the moon cake is eaten the circles disappear.

Lin uses a lot of details in her illustrations. These subtle details extend and develop the plot. On the first page there is picture of a clock with the lunar cycle. There are also some bears that mirror the constellations. After her mom hangs the moon up you can see the sun behind Little Star. As Little Star eats the moon cake the phases of the Moon become visible. At the end of the book her mom states that she “ate the moon cake again” (Lin, 2018). This tells the reader that this process happens regular and that the mom expects her daughter to get up and sneak nibbles of the moon cake.

Response:

            (a) When ever you look up at the sky people look for the moon. This year was the 50^th anniversary of the moon landing. This book is a story that explains the moon and why it is there. This book is fiction however it is a sweet story and explanation. It is fitting that it won the Caldecott Honor award this year. Students also learn that the moon is in the sky and has different phases. This book is great introduction to teach the moon phases. (f) The book itself is also, beautiful. The end pages show a dark night sky and a kitchen. Inside there are blues and the bright yellow mooncake. The circular moon image is shown throughout the book when Little Star is going to bed, to the moon, and finally back the end pages. The details are also symbolic. For example, the flour bag has an archer. There is a box with Leo the lion. There is a Pegasus key chain.  The simple illustrations are breathtaking. The contrast helps to draw the reader in and to tell the story. (d) It is also important to notice that the characters were not white. It is important for diverse characters to be featured in books. Students need to see themselves in what they are reading. The illustrations do a great job of showing the diversity of the characters.

Conclusion:

            Grace Lin deserved the acclaim she has received for her book. Through her use of color, shape, and details she can tell a story about the night sky. This book would pair perfectly with a non-fiction text on constellations, the moon, or the night sky. The details in this book are well planned out. It is important to notice the protagonist is a minority and the book is told by looking at a child. This book would be perfect for the classroom, library, and bedtime.

Works Cited

Alsc. (2019). Awards, Grants & Scholarship. Retrieved from Association for Library Service to Children : http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants

Junior Library Guild. (2018, October). A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Retrieved from Junior Library Guild: https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780316404488J

Lin, G. (2018). A Big Mooncake for Little Star. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Texas Library Association. (2019). Reading Lists. Retrieved from TLA Texas Library Association: https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/

Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (n.d.). Children's Literature, Briefly. Pearson.

Williamson, O. M. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm