Basket Moon Explained

Basket Moon
Author:Mary Lyn Ray
Illustrator:Barbara Cooney
Pub Date:1999
Country:United States
Language:English
Genre:Children's Book
Publisher:Little, brown and Company

Basket Moon is a 1999 children's book by Mary Lyn Ray. It was illustrator Barbara Cooney's last children's book, published six months before she died. The book depicts the folk art of basket-making in the Hudson Valley of New York.[1]

Plot

Basket Moon is set in Columbia County, New York. The book details a 19th-century boy who makes baskets and sells them in town, similar to Cooney's earlier book, Ox-Cart Man, which received the 1980 Caldecott Medal. He dreams of selling baskets in the town of Hudson, and finally makes the trip on foot with his father, under the full moon. After their trip, the townspeople mock them for being hillbillies, but the boy's neighbor reminds him of the value and skill of his craft.

Reception

The book was praised by Education Week, which noted Cooney's illustrations for imparting "a strong sense of place," as well as Ray's coming of age story.[2] Kirkus Reviews also praised Ray's "touchingly luminous" story and Cooney's "poetic paintings."[3]

Notes and References

  1. News: Paray Goddu . Krystyna . Basket Moon . 17 February 2023 . Riverbank Review . 1999.
  2. News: Rodman . Blake Hume . For Kids . 17 February 2023 . 1 March 2000.
  3. Web site: Basket Moon . Kirkus Reviews . 17 February 2023.