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Review by Jaclyn M. Bartz: How the Moon Regained Her Shape

From the emotionally engaging storyline to the beautiful illustrations, “How the Moon Regained Her Shape” was a delightful tale to share with my little ones. Janet Ruth Heller works magic with her storytelling skills, and Ben Hodson does a superb job bringing those words to life.

“How the Moon Regained Her Shape” merges Native American folktales with an anti-bullying message. The story begins with the moon happily dancing along the sky until she gets in the sun’s way. The sun gets angry and says some very mean things to her, causing her to feel unimportant. As a result, she retreats from the sky by shrinking. In order to bring her back, her friends try to help her realize how important she is. In addition to this wonderful story, the author includes a few pages dedicated to educating children about the moon, as well as a great tip sheet for dealing with bullies. Overall, this is a great book and we recommend adding this to your bookshelf.

Reviewer:
Jaclyn M. Bartz
Source:
Journey of an Aspiring Author

Janet Ruth Heller

I am the past president of the Michigan College English Association. I have a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. I have published four poetry books: Nature's Olympics (Wipf and Stock, 2021), Exodus (WordTech Communications, 2014), Folk Concert: Changing Times (Anaphora Literary Press, 2012) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011). My scholarly book, Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama, was published in 1990 by the University of Missouri Press. My fiction picture book about bullying for children, How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006; 7th edn. 2022), has won four national awards. My play The Cell Phone won fourth place in a national contest and was performed twice at the Fenton Village Players One-Act Play Festival on June 24-25, 2011 in Fenton, Michigan. Triton College produced another play, Pledging, as part of its Tritonysia Play Festival in May 2017. Choeofpleirn Press published Pledging in Rushing Through the Dark (2022).