Pat Mora

Also available in Korean, published by Bluebirdchild Publishing, 8970576452.

The Night the Moon Fell
Groundwood Books, illustrated by Domi
Download a hi-res jpeg of the book jacket.

La noche que se cayó la luna

A whoosh from her grandfather's blowgun causes Luna, the moon, to tumble from the sky and fall to pieces in the dark ocean. In this beautifully retold Maya legend, the moon must come to her own rescue, enlisting the help of little fish to glue her back together. At last she rises, beautiful and round once again, taking her new friends with her to create the Milky Way. Pat Mora has taken the traditional Mopan Maya (Belize) myth - in which the moon is a young weaver and the Milky Way a fish- and transformed it to show a spunky moon who finds a way to save herself, making the archetypal journey from homeland to a strange new world and back again.
En Español 

Highlighted Reviews
"The descriptive writing imbues both Luna and fish with character--spunky in the case of the moon and indelibly hopeful and cheerful in the instance of the fish--and gives the story enough drama to engage young readers and listeners. The progression from sadness and despair to problem solution to the triumphal return to the sky with fish in tow is masterfully presented."—School Library Journal

"A wonderfully affirming story supported by beautiful artwork. "—School Library Journal (Spanish edition)

" … Mora is a fine poet, and her words are simple and immediate … Mexican artist Domi's beautiful watercolors show the splashing rainbow colors connecting fish, sea, birds, moon, and sky."—Booklist

"Mora makes Luna come alive in the narrative, which includes vivid description punctuated with sounds and song-like rhymed couplets … Words and pictures collaborate here in telling a poetic, even fantastic story, one that demands that the reader enter another kind of world."—Starred, New Books of Merit, The Five Owls