What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees

From School Library Journal PreSchool-K. An excellent concept book, similar in quality to the artist's many pastoral picture books. Here, Tafuri uses a "flip-book" technique to show readers similar settings first from the point of view of the sun, and then from that of the moon (or vice versa). She provides a pleasant introduction to many opposites in scenes that will be familiar to a young audience?busy/restful city and country scenes, awake/sleeping animals and children. Details from one picture transform themselves in the opposite, e.g., sunflowers, shown in a sun-drenched field, appear in a brightly lit florist's window, viewed from a dark and quiet city street. A spare and repetitious text reinforces the continuity and contrast of daytime and nighttime experiences. A detached perspective and a panoramic distancing of colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations allow viewers to feel as though they are indeed looking down on the cycles of time.?Tana Elias, Meadowridge Branch Library, Madison, WICopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews A double-ended book showing scenes from farm, woodland, city, and school, first by day and then, by turning the book over and beginning again from the ``back,'' at night. The large format and extremely large type make this an ideal book for group sharing. Children intrigued by the novel layout are likely to match up the corresponding pictures--those who are careful will discover that there's actually one more daytime spread. Tafuri's fans will recognize the gray-and-black speckled hens from Early Morning in the Barn (1983), the marmalade cat from Junglewalk (1988), and even one of the sweet brown dogs from Who's Counting? (1986). From beautiful mixed-media artwork is fashioned an elegantly simple graphic demonstration of the neverending cycle of day and night. (Picture book. 3-7) --