The Moon Is a Ball

Join Panda and Squirrel in nine funny, wise and thoughtful stories about the meaning of friendship by two world greats of children’s literature. Perfect for emerging readers.

Panda and Squirrel have an unbreakable friendship. They can’t live without each other and do everything together: lie on the rocks to look at the moon, take walks, play games. One of their journeys lasts for only two steps, another day they discover a newly hatched duckling. Sometimes they argue but they always make up again. This is a friendship for any day: roaring, quiet, grumbling, snoring...always.

This beautiful hardback storybook, with full-color illustrations throughout, features down-to-earth and warm-hearted friendship stories that reach straight from the soul of one six-year-old to another.

Perfect for emerging readers or for reading aloud together, it’s a book to read again and again.

Written by Ed Franck, one of Belgium’s most important and innovative children’s writers, and illustrated by Thé Tjong-Khing, a world-leading illustrator for children, whose many accolades include nomination for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Translated from the Dutch edition by David Colmer.

“"Panda and Squirrel team up in simple stories about a friendship. Within this usually supportive and considerate odd couple, Squirrel is slightly more resourceful and reasonable; Panda often grumbles. Snail's pace challenges their patience, and his 'weird' (i.e., thought-provoking) questions just irritate Panda--though she later advocates curiosity herself. When Panda pretends to be cranky at being disturbed, Fox insultingly calls her black spots 'grubby.' The pair find an unhatched egg and care for it; they pass a day discovering that no game suits both. When a fall gives Panda amnesia, Squirrel reminds her of all they've done together. Both are capable of deception and manipulation. They know that the moon is a sphere but not that the Earth is. They experience conflict, sadness, contentment, homesickness, fear, embarrassment, and frequent annoyance. Minimalist illustrations break up the text on each page, adding lots of green and some touches of blue, red, and brown to a spare, expressive line that suits these spare tales. Frog and Toad, or Elephant and Piggie, they're not; the characterization is simple, and they lack the closeness of the former pair and the verve of the latter, aiming for more basic interactions. Still, the tales, translated from Dutch, are enjoyable and will hold readers' attention. Low-key friends and not-too-dramatic adventures can be enough sometimes."--Kirkus Reviews”

"Captivating text, ideal for reading aloud."

"Full of heart and gentle humor, Panda and Squirrel are sure to please."

"As Franck models charming rapport and low-stakes companionship, Tjong-Khing’s delicate artwork provides nature-filled scenes of glorious suns and a bamboo forest."

"For families who love short, illustrated fiction featuring animals, such as The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham or Ulf Nilsson's Detective Gordon series."

"Striking artwork and sweet, funny stories about friendship make The Moon Is a Ball an amusing addition to the philosophical friends genre, alongside Winnie-the-Pooh and Frog and Toad Are Friends."

"[An] upbeat, curiosity-inducing early reader."

Ed Franck is one of Belgium’s most important and innovative children’s writers. He writes for all ages and in all genres: from songs for toddlers to YA novels, detective stories and poetry. He has twice won the prestigious Cultuurprijs of the Flemish Community for Youth Literature.

Thé Tjong-Khing is a children’s book illustrator based in the Netherlands. He was born in Indonesia, attended the Seni Rupa Arts Institute in Bandung, and moved to the Netherlands in 1956. Thé has won the Golden Pencil Award (a major Dutch children’s book award) three times and the Woutertje Pieterse Prize for Best Dutch Children’s Book and was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize.

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