Mr. Squirrel and the Moon
Sebastian Meschenmoser, David Henry Wilson (Trans.)
NorthSouth Books, 2015
ISBN 978-0735841567

Winter 2015 Top Ten IndieNext Pick

When Mr. Squirrel awakens to find that the moon has landed on his tree, he frantically tries to get rid of it before someone suspects him of stealing it and puts him in jail. But when he rolls the moon off of his tree, it’s gets stuck on Mrs. Hedgehog’s bristles and when the billy-goat arrives and butts it with his horns . . . Will the moon ever be the same again? Sebastian Meschenmoser’s hilarious illustrations and rollicking tale will be a bedtime favorite.

Author
Sebastian Meschenmoser is one of Germany’s most successful and admired young illustrators for children. He has been nominated for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (Germany’s Children’s Book of the Year Award) and a coveted Lesepter Award. In 2008, he won the Dutch Silver Pencil (Zilveren Penseel) Award for the best foreign book illustrator of the year.

Translator
Wilson was educated at Dulwich College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He has lived in France, Ghana, Germany and Switzerland, and for many years was a lecturer at the universities of Bristol and Konstanz. Wilson has had many books published in the United Kingdom. A number of these have also been translated into other languages. He also translates many works from French and German.

Reviews
“Meschenmoser’s soft pencil portraits of the squirrel’s inner fears teeter right at the sweet spot between anguish and humor. The story’s deepest pleasure comes from the contrast between its ever-more-ridiculous scenarios and the artist’s solemn, classically proportioned drafting style.”-Publishers Weekly

“This makes a good choice for story hours or one-on-one sharing.”-Booklist, Kay Weisman

“As this book proves, squirrels, jail sequences, and edible heavenly bodies make for picture book gold. Delicious…if I had my way every Caldecott would go to Sebastian Meschmenmoser, regardless of citizenship or whether or not he has a book out in a given year.”-Fuse #8 Production/School Library Journal, Elizabeth Bird

“Readers of all ages are going to love this deliciously funny picture book. One cannot help sympathizing with Mr. Squirrel, but at the same time it is hard not to laugh at the mess he and his animal friends get into. As the story unfolds the situation gets worse and worse, and funnier and funnier.”- Marya Jansen-Gruber, Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews

“A hilarious story accompanied by wonderful illustrations of the poor worried Mr. Squirrel.”- Katrina Yurenka, Youth Services Blog

“The beautifully surreal artwork perfectly complements this whimsical, original fairy tale…”- Midwest Book Review