Thurber, J. (1943). Many moons. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company.
"Many Moons" is a picture storybook that tells the tale of a princess whose kingdom is by the sea.  The little girl falls ill, and when her dad, the king asks what would make her better, she replies "the moon."  Immediately, the king sets out to get his wise men to fetch the moon  for his daughter.  When told it is impossible for countless reasons, he turns to the court jester for help.  Needless to say, the little girl receives the moon in the end; to the king's surprise, she has it all figured out.  He was so concerned about her finding out that it wasn't the real thing, when in reality, she had the pure, innocent mind of a child and had reasoning that was unbeknownst to him and his other wise men.

The illustrations in this picture book were composed of cool, tranquil colors, complimenting the mood of the story when needed (the little princess sick, playing in the garden, etc.), and brighter fiery colors to depict the kings rage when he thought something was going to be out of his reach.

The plot of the story was very enjoyable.  In the beginning, it kept me on my toes to see what all the wise men would say about the king's request.  As the story progressed, I was more interested to see the kings reactions to the events in the story.

I would love to do a science extension with this book and study the different phases of the moon with students.