With her purple skin and oversize eyes, Moon may not look like a typical girl. But with her stuffed backpack, piles of schoolbooks and a perpetually lengthy to-do list that includes homework, soccer practice, trumpet lessons and math tutoring, she’s as overscheduled as most American kids. Moon wonders what it would feel like to be free, but she can’t find that answer in any of her textbooks. One night, after seeing a shooting star zip by her bedroom window, Moon heads outside, hoping to glimpse more, and meets a white wolf.
In her first book as both author and illustrator, Alison Oliver introduces readers to a new world that’s “Strange. Exciting. Wild.” As Moon rides atop the back of her new friend, the pair glows against the inky, nighttime backdrop of Oliver’s mixed-media artwork. In the forest, Moon learns how to pounce, play and howl alongside the wolf’s pack. She also learns how to be still, how to listen and how to feel, and she becomes mindful of something she had lost—happiness.
When Moon hears her mother’s call to return home, she takes all she’s learned with her and shares her “wolfy ways” with her classmates. In an age of media saturation, overscheduled commitments and less time for play, her story is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. Moon reminds us all that sometimes the best use of time is simply doing nothing.
This article was originally published in the May 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
