Alterations is like the century egg Kevin eats: On the outside, it looks like a story about middle school drama, but once you bite in, you realize the family dynamics are the umami flavor you can’t ignore. The entire book is marvelously crafted with a languid slowness of the heat at first and then the drama of the melting moon. This (according to publisher description) is the first picture book for Heena Baek to be published in English (translated by Jieun Kiaer). That’s when the two moon rabbits showed up and Granny had to figure out how to rebuild their moon home using the last drops of the moon. Dreamy illustrations are crafted from dioramas and cut-paper charcoal drawings, with a softly glowing candle-flame–colored moon and friends and neighbors who are a variety of creatures but all wearing summery human pajamas.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. On a simmering summer night, everyone in the apartment complex is doing everything they can to cool down. One of the grannies struggling with the heat decides to make ice pops out of the melting moon, but while that does keep everyone cool, it leaves the rabbits from the moon homeless.The paper figures are various animals who all live together in a crowded apartment building with their own interesting apartments to look into as well. The intelligence of Granny and her willingness to share and help make for an unusual folktale of community both nearby and far. She is an internationally acclaimed Korean children’s book author and illustrator and has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

On an evening so swelteringly hot the moon melts from the sky, Granny catches the moon drops and makes frozen treats that draw in the neighbors for relief. It has a soft, dark look that makes it seem like something creepy is around the corner, but with the lights in the right places, it highlights the feeling of togetherness.It’s a dystopian novel centering Indigenous voices and issues in a world ravaged by ecological, as well as societal crisis. L. Konigsburg Elizabeth George Speare Elsewhere Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. My only quibble, was if the moon melted (and was thus liquid), but all the power went out, how did granny manage to freeze the moon pops?

She collects the melting moon in a pot and when the power goes out decides to make it in to moon pops to cool herself and the rest of the apartment complex cool. For the older children, science lessons could be designed around studying the properties of matter (when the moon is solid and liquid) and the phases of the moon shown at the end of the book. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own.Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. It stands tall against a pitch-black sky as we peer into each apartment to gaze at the tenants and their homes. The artist uses real figurines and perfect lighting to capture the most pleasant way to portray this story. BookPage is a recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by our editors.

All is finally quiet, until two rabbits come knocking at the door—they have come from the moon, which has melted away. The text is simple and clear, but the real shining star here are the illustrations, which are diorama-like photographs. This would make a great classroom read for young elementary school children learning about folklore from around the world. The summer heat is oppressive—“too hot to do anything”—and the sense of claustrophobia and sweat is palpable. I loved Doerr’s earlier novel, All the Light We Cannot See, but had not gravitated to this one – until now.

But when 2 rabbits arrive because they lost their home, Granny needs to figure out how to help them. A strange and delightful tale made for lingering over--and perfect for reading with your own moon pop .