Blue Moon Mountain (Geraldine McCaughrean)

So, today my preschool daughter signed up for the summer reading program at the local library. It was so sweet to see her getting her very first library card, playing with the kids' computers, and browsing the children's literature collection. It is a massive library, so she was pretty overwhelmed. For that matter, I'm a librarian, and I'm overwhelmed when I go into this particular branch. But, we'll continue to visit and get oriented to the building throughout the summer, especially when we go to show her reading log to earn her tickets. Granted, the prize room looks just like the treasure box at Chuck E. Cheese's, filled with trinkets that are either cheap pieces of candy or what must be lead-laden toys. Sweet Sassafras (my nickname for her), I'm not trying to micromanage your ticket purchases, but darlin', I can buy you a teensy pack of fun dip for .15.

But...it's about the reading, right?

Which brings us to this post.

Her poppa is rather goal-oriented, and competitive, so he is all into this earning-a-ticket deal. We have just completed 4 books (and 140 points total, mind you), so as much as time permits, I'll be sharing about some of the books we are reading this summer.

Blue Moon Mountain is a weak effort at trying to weave a story together filled with villains from mythical and folktale history. Big Bad Wolf, the Kraken, Hydra, Gorgon, something called the Cockatrice, the Troll from the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, etc. are all characters living on this mysterious Blue Moon Mountain. The mountain can only be reached once in a blue moon, and so one night a little girl (Joy) makes her way to the Blue Moon Mountain in search of the unicorn (which, by the way, when did a unicorn become a villain?). She meets all these creatures, tells them they are wonderful, and then goes home. That's pretty much it. I found it spotty and poorly written, with illustrations that never matched the animals mentioned on the pages. Sassafras found it rather boring, and so the book became a lesson at reading a book to the end, regardless of how lackluster it is.

Because we have TICKETS to earn, right?! ;)

Blue Moon Mountain (Geraldine McCaughrean)