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Touch the Moon
When the china horse Jennifer receives for her birthday is magically transformed into a real horse, they share an evening of fantastic adventures.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Marion Dane Bauer
191 books190 followersMarion Dane Bauer is the author of more than one hundred books for young people, ranging from novelty and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, and middle-grade and young-adult novels. She has won numerous awards, including several Minnesota Book Awards, a Jane Addams Peace Association Award for RAIN OF FIRE, an American Library Association Newbery Honor Award for ON MY HONOR, a number of state children's choice awards and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for the body of her work.
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
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INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
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Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
-------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
-------------------------------------
Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 7, 2015
This was one of my FAVORITE horsey books as a kid. I loved horses, and I would have been overjoyed to have one of my own (not having even the smallest clue how much work and expense is involved, of course). Most days my imaginary horse friends raced everywhere with me outside vehicle windows. A book about a girl who receives a horse figurine that turns into a real horse? And it talks? And they go on an adventure? SIGN ME UP FOR THIS.
The magically full-sized horse comes with a full-sized attitude and full-sized fears that Jennifer must learn to deal with. She also learns that just because you've read all kinds of books about horses doesn't mean you know the first thing about riding one! (Raise your hand if that was you, because that was totally me.) Jennifer's adventure lasts only one evening but the excitement and wonder of it lasted forever in my imagination.
The magically full-sized horse comes with a full-sized attitude and full-sized fears that Jennifer must learn to deal with. She also learns that just because you've read all kinds of books about horses doesn't mean you know the first thing about riding one! (Raise your hand if that was you, because that was totally me.) Jennifer's adventure lasts only one evening but the excitement and wonder of it lasted forever in my imagination.
March 7, 2015
One of The most magical horse stories I read as a child. I can read it over and over. It is funny, beautiful and moving. The girl and her dream horse are both amusingly stubborn, proud, and confused. The girl learns about herself and does some growing up through their adventures. It is just a sweet story. A gem of a book for kids.
June 24, 2019
I’m a horse back rider my self also a horse lover when I began I book I didn’t think it would teach me more about riding that I don’t know. I enjoy learning that your friends will always be there for you and to trust them just like Jennifer trusted moonlight. Jennifer didn’t really get what she wanted but it was worth it and moonlight got another great owner.
I prefer this book do animal lovers, if your not a big animal fan I don’t know if you’ll enjoy this book as much . Consider reading touch the moon.
I prefer this book do animal lovers, if your not a big animal fan I don’t know if you’ll enjoy this book as much . Consider reading touch the moon.
July 19, 2025
The horse itself stole the show; what a personality! A nice story all through. Young me would have absolutely adored it, and so I'm rounding up to four stars. LFL find.
May 11, 2026
Could not finish it. Cute idea but poorly written.
June 16, 2008
This book was good. I love horses. In fact it is about a magical horse who thinks its real
October 23, 2010
I'd hardly call this a favorite as I remember nothing about this one. This is what happens when you read too many kids' books in a row. Unless they're spectacular they kind of blur together.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews