Title: Solita and the Purple Moon: Solita y la Luna Morada
Author: Miriam Isabel Elliott
Illustrated by: Carlos E. Elliott
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-4343-4932-3
Pages: 24
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Bi-lingual
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Author Miriam Isabel Elliott has written a delightful children’s book about a little girl who, while in bed, talks and dreams about a purple moon outside her window. The moon and the little girl become friends, and do fantastical things like flying over the water, mountains, and trees during the evening. The friendship continues for a few days, missing one night altogether, but resuming the following evening. The sequence of the moon and the little girl’s friendship seemed to end when her mommy came to the bedroom door and stayed with the girl, allowing the moon to go on to visit some other child who may be lonely and scared.
As softly and gently as the story is narrated, first in English then translated into Spanish, the book also pages with interleaved charcoal drawings, created with a touch of lavender or purple moonlight. The combination of illustrations and storyline create a lulling feeling to youngsters at bedtime, allowing for a loving launching into dreamland. The bi-lingual aspects of this book are very important for our culture in both educating Spanish-speaking children learning English, but also, just as importantly, the other way around, having English speaking kids learn Spanish. To read both languages will imprint the commonality of the words and expressions and create an educational experience which is also fun.
As an example of the kind writing, the book closes with, “…And a little star told me that mother and child waved to the moon while it faded away, to visit other windows of scared and lonely children, not too far from them.”
A must-have book for children nowadays, especially those in mixed cultural neighborhoods, Solita and the Purple Moon – Solita y la Luna Morada will be a book selected many times, and will certainly become a favorite. It would be good to have other titles done with the bi-lingual format and original illustrations of this pair of creative author and illustrator. Bueno Bueno!
