Colleen McKeown

The cover of this book, Under the Silvery Moon, caught my eye with its beautiful illustrations. The author, Colleen McKeown, has not only created a soft warm feeling to the story through her words, but through her pictures as well. I would even turn the lights off in my classroom, providing that there is plenty of sunlight coming in from the windows, to read. This would add to the feel of this charming story.
This is a story of a curious little kitten that cannot seem to fall asleep due to the night noises surrounding him. The story is told through his mother as she calmly explains to her kitten about the noises. “But it’s so noisy, I can’t sleep!” said Kitten with a sigh. “It’s just our friends, “said Mother Cat. They’re waking up nearby….”
The story tells of several creatures that sleep through the day but are awake during the night. Mother Cat reveals just enough insight on why these creatures are making certain noises. But still leaves ones imagination mounting on what else these creatures will do. “That cry you hear, so long and loud, that distant, haunting tune, Belongs to fox, who’s up at night. He’s calling to the Moon.”
The science content of this book brings up the idea that some animals are awake during the day while others are asleep and some are awake during the night while others are asleep. Even though this is a fiction book, It depicts the subject matter of nocturnal animals versus non nocturnal in a simple manner for the primary grades. It also allows for the students to see how one person interprets what might be happening during the night under the moon lit sky and how the Moon light lights up the night.… (altro)