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Over the Moon
Attempting to stage the "Cat and the Fiddle" nursery rhyme, a monkey director goes bananas when his cast, including a thespian cow and a snobbish cat, insists on doing things their way, in a picture book filled with spitfire dialogue.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 1998
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21 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Vail
51 books457 followersBirth
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 11, 2018
This book took the original nursery rhyme "Hey diddle, diddle" and made it much more interesting. they are trying to direct the rhyme and the cow has some trouble jumping over the moon. My mom often told me "Hey diddle, diddle" before bedtime when I was growing up so I enjoyed this book a lot!
August 24, 2018
I always enjoy a twist on the familiar. This book takes the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" and tweeks it to become "Hi Diddle Diddle" the play. Very fun. Loved the characters.
August 13, 2019
Hiram Diddle Diddle, the director of the nursery rhyme, and a violin-playing cat encourages a cow to keep jumping until she makes it over the moon.
Fun idea.
Fun idea.
August 14, 2019
Silly, quirky, arty take on the classic "hey diddle diddle" nursery rhyme.
May 23, 2020
A cute way to review prepositions!
September 12, 2016
So this is about a nursery rhyme where they're acting it out. It's kind of set up like a comic or graphic novel but really simple in concept. With the help of the cow you learn concepts such as "under, next to, through and over". The last few comments may go over your child's head- (maybe not if you live near cows or they're just really smart). The cow says, "Hey guys. Let's run after that dish and spoon. All that jumping made me hungry." Then the cat says, "I could go for a saucer of milk." and the cow replies "I might be able to help you out there". Overall cute, and teaches under, next to, through and over, but don't know if I would check this book out again just for those.
January 29, 2011
Humorous twist on the familiar nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle. Hiram Diddle Diddle is a director rehearsing a play with all the rhyme's characters. The cow can't seem to get the concept of jumping OVER the moon. After multiple takes, she succeeds but lands on the director. The dog is laughing hysterically and they all follow a dish and spoon out to have something to eat. Simple text and format that provides high interest easy reading for older kids as well.
January 1, 2014
This is another book Pip chose at the library as part of the summer reading program. It was hard to make sense of some pages because of the way she was reading it. Maybe not the best choice for a beginning reader. Charlie liked it.
October 7, 2016
I always enjoy a twist on the familiar. This book takes the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" and tweeks it to become "Hi Diddle Diddle" the play. Very fun. Loved the characters.
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February 4, 2016Hilarious. A high-strung monkey director butts heads with an actor cow who can’t grasp the concept of “over the moon.â€
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews