Sidney, Stella and the Moon

by Emma Yarlett

Twins Sidney and Stella love doing everything together… everything except sharing. When an quarrel over a bouncy ball creates a moon-sized problem, the twins must face their biggest ever working together to find a new moon! This debut picture book is a tour-de-force of the imagination by exciting emerging talent Emma Yarlett.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Family, Friendship, Humor, Fantasy

48 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Emma Yarlett graduated with honors in illustration from University College Falmouth in 2011. Her other work includes a nonfiction book by Julia Donaldson and animation for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award.

Reviews

[Round Lake Area Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella did everything together. They fed the ducks together, they played together, however there was one thing they couldn’t do together…SHARE. So one night when they were fighting over a bouncy ball it flew out the window and bounced up to the moon and broke it into a million pieces. The next day chaos ensued due to the missing moon so Stella and Sidney needed to find a replacement and fast. They looked everywhere for a replacement until they found an almost round piece of cheese and flung it up to the sky.

This is a very creative story that has great illustrations and really captures Sidney and Stella’s facial expressions really well. A lot of kids struggle with sharing so this was a nice story that shows what some consequences might be when you don’t share (a little extreme but probably effective none-the-less). This is a great story for kids of all ages.

[Margaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

I literally thought this was an Oliver Jeffers book. I don't understand... the typeface and everything is the same. The only difference is that the characters have googly eyes.

Sidney and Stella are twins that do everything together. But they never share. After yet another argument over a bouncy ball, the two make a ghastly mistake: their ball bounces high above the houses of their town and takes down the moon. The two eventually work together in order to save the earth from a total meltdown.

The Oliver Jeffers look-alike illustrations downgraded this book from five stars to three on principle. I'm kinda disturbed.

[picturethisbook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella are a pair of twins who do everything together except share, and one night, while fighting over a ball, they — gasp — accidentally break the moon into a million pieces. By working together, however, the twins eventually manage to put the (well, a) moon back into the sky (never mind that it now has a suspicious bite mark).

This is possibly one of the most perfect picture books we've read to date with the dream combination of stunning, creative and adorable illustrations, just the right amount of well-written, witty text that perfectly complements the artwork, and an imaginative, original and funny story. A stunning debut for the talented writer/illustrator.

For more reviews on great children's books, visit our website.

[Crystal Bandel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sidney, Stella and the Moon by Emma Yarlett, published 2013.

Magic realism.

Picture book.

Pre-K to grade 1.

Found via Kirkus Reviews, reviewer not identified.

Sidney and Stella are rambunctious twins who, while fighting over a bouncy ball, knock the moon out of the sky. In the resulting chaos, the twins try to find an alternative for the moon, eventually sending a cheese round to take the moon's place. Though this book has a cute narrative and beautiful illustrations, the text drags, using too many fonts and repeating the lesson too many times to be a fun and easy read. Kirkus Reviews agrees, stating, "Readers are quizzed rhetorically about "one thing that Stella and Sidney did not do together." "I wonder what that could be?" leads to telling, barely showing, that the twins "did not SHARE." Yawn. Skip the text and stick with the illustrations--the result is more entertaining." There is little objectionable material in this book, but readers should skip it unless they want a story about sharing with quirky, inventive illustrates.

[Kaylee Mouser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella did everything together. They took care of the ducks together, they played together. But they weren't very good at sharing. So one night when they were battling about a fun ball it flew out the window and skipped up to the moon and broke it into 1,000,000 pieces. The following day tumult resulted because of the missing moon so Stella and Sidney expected to discover a substitution and quick. They searched wherever for a substitution until they found a practically round bit of cheddar and flung it up to the sky. This is an imaginative story that has incredible outlines and truly catches Sidney and Stella's outward appearances truly well. A ton of children battle with sharing so this was a pleasant story that shows what a few outcomes may be the point at which you don't share (a little outrageous however likely viable none-the-less). This is an extraordinary story for youngsters, everything being equal.

[Ilias Avramidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο μας μιλάει για δύο αδέρφια που πάνω στην απροθυμία τους να μοιραστούν, κάνουν μια μεγάλη ζημιά, σπάνε το φεγγάρι! Αυτό που ξεχωρίζει δεν νομίζω πως είναι ο τρόπος που περνάει το μήνυμα "είναι καλό να μοιραζόμαστε" αλλά η εικονογράφηση που είναι αρκετά καρτουνιστική με έντονα χρώματα και αστεία σκίτσα και λεπτομέρειες! Όχι το πιο παιδαγωγικό αλλά σίγουρα διασκεδαστικό! Η αναδιπλούμενη σελίδα που ανοίγουν το παράθυρο τους το επόμενο πρωί και βλέπουν τον χαμό που έχει γίνει είναι από τα highlights!

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella love doing things together! However, they do not love sharing, and one night this difficulty leads to a dramatic problem. To resolve this the siblings not only have to problem solve, but may also have to share responsibility to fix it.

A pretty believable sibling duo, with a completely out of this world (you'll get it when you read it! ;) ) issue and predictable, but good closure (with a slight crazy twist, just because).

No content issues.

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up based on the illustrator, but ended up ending this slightly offbeat, zany story too. Sidney and Stella are twins who have lots of fun together, but have big problems with sharing. Unfortunately, one of their arguments leads to the moon being destroyed and absolute chaos worldwide, so the twins have to figure out a way to replace the moon in the sky before even more things go wrong. It doesn't mean that they have learned their lesson about sharing though!

[Amber Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about sharing, and how these two friends were good at a lot of things but sharing. Somethings happen and they have to work together to fix what they did, and in the book, they get better at sharing. This would be good for children to be able to see that they have to work together sometimes to accomplish a task, or that sharing is something that we should do with others. This would be good to read to students that struggle with sharing or working together.

[Sharon Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children loved the book, the story is fantastic, however, the hard part for me was the text and understand what I needed to read next. It didn't seem to flow based on where the text was. Maybe I am more traditional when it comes to children books and the text. That's the only thing I had a problem with so other than that, the story was beautiful.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, interactive book, that works great for storytime with older kids. It's a little long, and the narrative is a little abstract as the kids break the moon and have to figure out how to replace it, but it's a fun story that highlights the importance of sharing and teamwork.

[Taryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love these illustrations, and especially the author's use of space on the page, but the plot stutters. Some parts of the story are long, some are too short.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like it. The story, and the illustrations, were hard to follow. It seemed a bit all over the place.

[Carlos Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations and a great story about the power of sharing. A lot of realistic fantasy on it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As my seven-year-old pointed out, how do you use a jump rope as a slingshot? It's not stretchy.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations! This beautiful story about friendship, sharing and fixing your mistakes is bound to be loved by all.

This story would be perfect for a night or friendship Storytime.

[David Haggett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending seems derivative, but the foldout and the attention to details are as good as usual.

[Lauren Davenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a clever author! So fun!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up in the New Book section of the Children’s Room. It looked interesting and it was about the moon, which my son loves reading about, so I gave it a try. I must have British book radar, because I always seem to gravitate towards British writers, even if I have no idea where they are from are to begin with. I really liked the artwork, which was a blend of digital art and collage. The story was kind of boring though.

Sidney and Stella are twins who do everything together. One day, they are fighting over a bouncy ball, when it slips from their grasp, bounces way up and shatters the moon. What are two children to do! Why, they must fix it before anyone can find out. Of course, it is all over the news so it is not a secret for long. Sidney eventually finds a partially eaten round of cheese to replace the moon and with his sister’s help, the put it back in the sky. Recommended for ages 4-7, 3 stars.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this book based on the cover, I'll admit. What a great idea that was! Emma Yarlett's illustrations are gorgeous! I will read anything she illustrates because I know I'll love it. In this story twins Sidney and Stella are horrible sharers. In a scuffle they accidentally break the moon! They must work together to find a replacement in this adorable picture book. I'm a sucker for heartfelt sibling books, so this was right up my alley.

[Breezy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella have trouble with sharing, which results in a broken moon. They have to learn how to share and work together to fix everything. A fantastic book for teaching your children how to share. My three year old is amazed everytime he sees the moon in the night sky and when I read this book to him he just had a blast. The illustrations are adorable and fun, very attractive to young eyes.

[Şengül · Rating 5 out of 5]

En sevdiklerimizden. İkiz kardeşlerin bir türlü başedemedikleri eski bir sorun hakkında tabiki "paylaşmak" . Çocuğun hayal gücünü kullanmasına izin veren , az sözlü , mimikli , komikli bir kitap. İşbirliği yaptıklarında sorunların üstesinden gelebileceklerini de anlatıyor. Ama çocuğum paylaşmayı öğrensin diye alınacaksa çok birşey farketmedik diyebilirim. Çocuğum üç buçuk yaşındayken almıştım , dörtbuçuk yaşında daha iyi paylaşıyor diyebilirim (yani en azından bizim için öyle oldu)

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for ECE and early elementary level readers because of the simplicity of the text but the more in-depth growth of the characters during the story. Sidney and Stella do not share at the beginning of the story, but they find that when they do, great things happen. The pictures are fabulously entertaining and the story is very cute.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end* is still bugging me.... What is going to happen? I do not like cliff-hangers. All-righty then, the illustrations cracked me up--hello! angry uni-brow!--and the ridiculous solution was terrific. All around winner for me (except for the end*...that is still bugging me...will the broken pieces of the moon miraculously come back together in the trash can? WHAT will happen?)

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. It covers the age old battles of sibling rivalry and sharing and the problems they can lead to. Of course they work together in the end to solve their problem as a team. I think my favorite part of it is the catapult. Would be fun to use this book in a lesson plan and have the class make their own catapults.

[Courtney Huskisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a twin sibling is fun, but sharing is hard. These twins find out what wreckage refusing to share causes, and what can be done with team work.

Love the illustration and clever use of moving pages in the book. I have really enjoyed Yatlett's work. I know a boy/girl twin pair that I would recommend this to :).

[Marfita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella have fun together, but their main weakness is their inability to share. They have to surmount this when their conflict over Sidney's ball literally breaks the moon. There's one of these double fold-out pages in the book that may cause trouble.
Illustrations digitally created, but authentic looking. The technology has really gotten better.

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidney and Stella do everything together except share and when the ball they were arguing over accidentally breaks the moon, they know they need to make things right. Zany, energetic, humorous illustrations shine here, but the storyline was a bit thin.

[Dom Conlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations take centre stage here, and Yartlett shows she has a bright future in big, fun illustrating. The story manages to keep up too though, with plenty of character and interplay between the twins. A lovely, bold book.