New Month, New Moon

Gr 1–3—In this brief photo essay, Ofanansky aims to explain the phases of the moon and the ancient Jewish celebration of the new moon, Rosh Chodesh. The story is narrated by a boy whose family is on an overnight camping trip in Israel with a guide who has a telescope. The brief text is poorly organized and ultimately fails to shed light on either topic. The level of explanation devoted to the phases of the moon is more suitable to older children, and the information on Rosh Chodesh is too scattered throughout. The ancient importance of the holiday is not fully discussed, even in the back matter, which offers instructions for making a papier mâché moon and an illustration of the phases of the moon. The attractive, full-color photos largely serve to document the text. Though there are few titles on Rosh Chodesh for this audience, this one doesn't make the grade. Meanwhile, there are many relatively recent books on the phases of the moon that do a better job.—Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library