Sunshine, Moonshine

by Jennifer Armstrong, Lucia Washburn (Illustrator)

The sun and the moon shine down on a young boy as he spends a day by the sea. "Sun shines on the mountains, sun shines on the sea. Sun shines on my pillow, and says wake up to me."  

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Jennifer Armstrong learned to read and write in Switzerland, in a small school for English speaking children on the shores of Lake Zurich. The school library had no librarian and no catalog – just shelves of interesting books. She selected books on her own, read what she could, and made up the rest. It was perfect. As a result, she made her career choice – to become an author – in first grade. When she and her family returned to the U.S. she discovered that not all children wrote stories and read books, and that not all teachers thought reading real books was important. Nevertheless, she was undaunted. Within a year of leaving college she was a free-lance ghost writer for a popular juvenile book series, and before long published her first trade novel, Steal Away, which won her a Golden Kite Honor for fiction.

More than fifty additional novels and picture books followed, and before long she also tried her hand at nonfiction, winning an Orbis Pictus Award and a Horn Book Honor for her first nonfiction book, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. In late 2003 she will travel to the South Pole with the National Science Foundation to do research for a book on ice.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one that my 4yo read to me! He loves this book and the rhyme really helps his fluency.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple, easy read but sweet 😊

[Jacquelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry, you might ask? In an easy reader? This beautiful book provides short sentences with such verbal and visual imagery that it is certainly poetic. “Sun shines on the mountains. Sun shines on the sea. Sun shines on my pillow and says wake up to me.” As with many text for easy readers, the lines fall into a rhythm after a few pages. The lush illustrations follow the cycle of the sun and the moon and a boy at the beach with his family. The scenes, almost as vivid and detailed as a Thomas Kincaid painting, are far above the quality usually found in easy readers. The publisher has placed this book in the category for the earliest reader: Early STEP into Reading Preschool & Kindergarten, but could also be read to a much younger child, perhaps at bedtime. What a nice way to introduce the art of reading to others to a small child.
Other books about the seashore:
Kailey, Amy Goldman Koss
Olive’s ocean, Kevin Henkes
Surf’s up, Geronimo, Geronimo Stilton

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justyn's favorite book, first book he learned to read by himself at 4 years old boy. Very simple word, and I Loved it too.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pretty good for an early reader. I'm just always cautious of how many books imply that the moon is out at night to contrast the sun is out during the day.

[Sarah]

This is somewhere between a level one and level two, but it has a lot of good repetition that could make it work as a high level one.

[WSL Library]

x2

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reader that talks about what the sun and moon shine upon. The story goes from dawn to dusk.

Reviewed from a library copy.

2019 storytime theme: Sun, Moon, Stars (A Universe of Stories)

[Ruthanne Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son read this in the beginning of his first grade year to a kindergarten class. He loves this book!