Wild honey from the moon by Kenneth Kraegel

This is one of those odd books that could fit into many different areas. Picture book? Graphic novel? Beginning chapter? All of those.

Kraegel's art can be simple or complex and this book combines both. You'll see on the cover the hexagons of a bee hive with delicate details included in each. Central is the mother shrew, who is the protagonist of the story. The story is divided into seven short chapters and the first introduces the mother shrew and her son Hugo, who is sick. They live in a colorful little treehouse in a snowy wood, among many other houses. When she learns that a teaspoon of wild honey from the moon can cure him, Mother Shrew sets out on a brave journey. She faces the great horned owl, convinces him to fly her to the moon, tames a herd of nightmares, visits a vale of butterflies, and finally finds the garden of the queen bee on an island. But will Mother Shrew be brave enough to make it past the bees and will the Queen Bee give her honey? Eventually, she fulfills her quest, but she still has to make it back to earth and face the great horned owl who wants to eat her before she can get back to Hugo.

Kraegel's pointilistic art shows a plump little shrew who is determined to save her son. The frightening owl, creepy nightmares, and dangerous bees don't stop her! Red umbrella in hand, she marches forward, undeterred by dangers and using her wits and her skills to remove the difficulties in her path. The colors and creatures on the moon have an otherworldly, odd look, as they should; the nightmares are elongated horses, the bees are a flock of striped creatures with huge compound eyes, and the butterflies look like giant chunks of felt. Through all the strange dangers marches the ordinary little shrew, her love for her son making her brave. The book is laid out like an over-sized chapter book. Each chapter is only a few pages and fully illustrated, but I wouldn't necessarily call this a graphic novel because there are no panels; it's more of a lengthy picture book or illustrated chapter book.

Verdict: A quiet and gentle book, this will make a beloved read-aloud for kids who like the peaceful and reassuring type of story and for young readers who are sensitive and don't like the intensity of middle grade. I have quite a few of those readers, so this is a good choice for my library and I plan to put it in juvenile fiction and promote it at book club.

ISBN: 9780763681692; Published November 2019 by Candlewick; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library