Sun and Moon Have a Tea Party

by Yumi Heo, Naoko Stoop (Illustrator)

Overview

In this perfect bedtime read, the sun and moon argue with each other about what happens during the day and night.

Sun and Moon sit down for a tea party, but they soon find out that they see the world very differently. Moon says moms and dads get their kids ready for bed, while Sun says no, they get their children ready for school. So who's right? Well, as the two come to find out, they both are. With the help of Cloud, a gentle mediator, each stays up past their bedtime and sees the world from the other's incredible point of view.

Perfect for sleepy listeners, here is a charming young picture book that will also help children see the world from different perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385390354
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	AD470L (what's this?)
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

YUMI HEO, who passed away in 2016, was the author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children. She illustrated Knopf's The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks by Verna Aardema, as well as Henry's First-Moon Birthday and Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding, both written by Lenore Look, and both selected as ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Books. She is also the author and illustrator of Ten Days and Nine Nights and the illustrator of Polka Dot Penguin Pottery, both published by Schwartz & Wade Books.

NAOKO STOOP is the self-taught illustrator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book The Red Knit Cap Girl, the sequels Red Knit Cap Girl to the Rescue and Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree, and several other books for children. She also illustrated the picture book Pup and Bear, written by Kate Banks, which received three starred reviews. Visit her on the web at naokosstoop.blogspot.com or on Twitter @naokosstoop.

Editorial Reviews

05/11/2020

This final story by the late Heo (Flabbersmashed About You) opens as the sun and the moon meet for tea one afternoon. “Do you know what moms and dads do?” Moon asks, holding her teacup delicately. “They get their children ready for bed.” Stoop (Pup and Bear) paints what Moon sees: a mother helping a child into a pajama top as a father tucks a smaller sibling into bed. “No, they don’t,” Sun says flatly. “Moms and dads get their children ready for school.” Sun watches the same family headed out the door, the two children wearing knapsacks. As the counterparts begin bickering, young readers will recognize the problem: Moon sees the world only at night, while Sun sees it during the day. Stoop paints on plywood, and the grain underneath her artwork helps her colors drift and fade, giving a dreamy feeling to a celestial debate played out on the streets of a bustling, diverse community. Heo’s tale has the weight and force of a fable, with a timeless quality that speaks to a universal human dilemma: limited point of view. Ages 3–7. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Sun and Moon Have a Tea Party:

“Lovely depictions of nature and people. . . . A clever look at how the Sun and Moon have different perspectives on what humans do on Earth.” —School Library Journal

“[The] colors drift and fade, giving a dreamy feeling to a celestial debate played out on the streets of a bustling, diverse community. Heo’s tale has the weight and force of a fable.” —Publishers Weekly

“A thoughtful, gentle introduction to the limits of one’s own perspective.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Stoop’s art, mixed media on plywood, draws on the underlying grain for a distant, windswept tone but occasionally punctuates it with small saturated pops, as in the lively morning glories. The result is a softly friendly world both in both day and night, with day’s inviting crowds giving way to night’s luminous beauty.” —The Bulletin

“This gentle tale can serve as a bedtime story or a picture book introductory STEM lesson for young students.” —Shelf Awareness


Praise for Naoko Stoop's Pup and Bear:

“Adults and children alike will want to return to this title about caretaking for reassurances of love in the present and promise for the future." —The Bulletin, starred review

“The lyrical writing makes this a wonderful read-aloud. This story of extraordinary kindness may also prompt a discussion of diverse families.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“The subdued visual mood is a lovely match for Banks’s unadorned prose, and the characters’ relationship to the harsh landscape underscores their resilience.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

06/01/2020

K-Gr 2—When the Sun and Moon have a tea party that ends in an argument about what people do on Earth, Cloud comes to the rescue. Cloud explains that they are both right, but each will need to stay up past their bedtime to see how people really spend their time. And in this way the Moon learns many things about daytime and Sun finds out about the night. Stoop's mixed-media illustrations are colorful and detailed, with lovely depictions of nature and people in their opposite orbs. VERDICT This is a clever look at how the Sun and Moon have different perspectives on what humans do on Earth, and has great potential for post-reading discussions.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Lib., Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2020-03-29
Locked in a bitter dispute about the nature of the world, Sun and Moon can’t both be right, can they?

Enjoying tea and cookies together above the Earth late one afternoon, the sun and the moon discover the vast difference in their experiences. When Moon notes, “Children have to go to sleep,” Sun responds, “Wrong!...Children have to go to school.” Sun and Moon recount their understanding of what children, parents, streets, birds, and even streams are like, each one’s description in direct opposition to the other’s. As the disagreement becomes increasingly heated, along comes Cloud, who offers a way for the two to see the world from a different view. It’s a straightforward but effective story, with quiet, rounded illustrations creating a soft and accessible universe. Sun, Moon, and Cloud have simple but expressive line-drawn faces that drive the text’s dramatic tension and satisfying resolution. Repeated use of one family—what appears as a white-skinned, black-haired mom; a peach-skinned, blond dad; a white-skinned, flaxen-haired child; and a white-skinned, black-haired child—gives the celestial debate some human resonance, and people depicted in city scenes include a range of skin tones, ages, and abilities. The changing behavior of morning glories under Sun’s and Moon’s respective gazes is a particularly clever detail that may have readers curious to learn more.

A thoughtful, gentle introduction to the limits of one’s own perspective. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews