About the Book

Illustrations and easy-to-read, rhyming text reveal the nighttime activities of forest animals that awake when Sun sets and Moon rises.

Book Synopsis

This perfect bedtime read-aloud describes that magical time, just as we're drifting off to sleep, when the moon shines brightly and life emerges from the forest. Now a board book!

Hello moon,
Goodbye sun.
Night is near,
Day is done.

When the sun goes down and most of us are getting ready for bed, the nighttime animals of the forest all wake up to the light of the moon. It calls to them, from the slyest fox to the tiniest mouse, who feasts on leaves and fruit and scurries beneath the brush.

Gentle rhyming text is illustrated with soft and dreamy artwork in this perfect bedtime book in the tradition of Goodnight Moon, now in board book form for the littlest listeners. For more bedtime rhymes, don't miss the companion book Hello, Sun, which chronicles the other side of the daily cycle.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Review Quotes

★ "Whether read as Zen nature walk, bedtime story, or gentle science starter, this story begs to be visited again and again."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Downing invites listeners to revel in the night with soft illustrations depicting four nocturnal animals (a fox, owl, mouse, and raccoon) and a complementary series of soothing quatrains describing their routines."--The Horn Book

"A short, sweet, simple book for bedtime. . . . Glowing illustrations support a poetic text for a visit to what goes on while children sleep."--School Library Journal

"Downing adds rich depth to her full-bleed illustrations, dense with background detail and sumptuous, velvety color, while the onomatopoeic text melds seamlessly into the rest of the lines. . . . With an easy poetic tempo and artwork teeming with ambiance and tone, this will be an enchanting pick for storytime."--Booklist

About the Author

Julie Downing has illustrated over forty-five picture books including Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper by Candace Fleming, The Fire Keeper's Son, Tessa Takes Wing and First Mothers. She has won many awards including a Parents Choice Award, the New York Public Library's Best Books Award, APAAL Best Illustrated Book and the Irma Black Silver Medal. Her work has been featured in the SCBWI Original Art Show.
Julie teaches illustration to undergraduate and graduate students at the Academy of Art University. She lives in San Francisco.