Moonpowder

John Rocco

Book - 2008

Even though Eli is the "fixer of all things fixable," one thing he cannot fix is his bad dreams, until one night when Mr. Moon appears and asks him to come fix the Moonpowder factory, where sweet dreams are created

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Location Call Number   Status
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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
New York : Hyperion Books for Children 2008.
Language
English
Main Author
John Rocco (-)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
unpaged : col. ill. ; 29 cm
ISBN
9781423100119
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Young Eli, a Mr. Fix-It,  stays up late tinkering so he won't have any more bad dreams. One night, a huge, golden, pock-marked moon sticks its head in the window and proclaims the problem is Moonpowder. Eli isn't getting enough of the magical marvel, which brings sweet dreams. The factory has been on the blink lately, and Mr. Moon thinks Eli can fix it. Eli's foray to the factory in his helio-rocket-copter provides ample opportunity for Rocco's fabulous artwork. His inventive paintings, done in deep, rich colors of night and tinged with gold, are used in spreads, panels, and full pages. The mechanical gizbots inside the factory, adjusting valves and dials, along with the intricate hand drawings of the factory's inner workings, will keep children, especially the mechanically inclined, totally fascinated. Although the story may not have quite as much magic as the artwork, the ending, which brings Eli's soldier father home, is sweet and satisfying. This will sustain many readings.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2008 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2-Eli Treebuckle is a tinkerer, a "fix-it" boy whose father is away at war. He never has "sweet dreams," and his nightmares keep him awake working on fantastical inventions. One sleepless night, an avuncular, W.C. Fields-faced Mr. Moon drops by and invites Eli to come fix the Moonpowder Factory, the source of pleasant dreams. The floating factory is filled with retro robots and huge machinery. Eli, with the help of Mr. Moon and Giz the robot, gets into and under the machines until he discovers the empty dream tank that is causing his problems. The only fix entails Eli finding a box with the last pinch of moonpowder and dreaming sweet dreams to refill the tank. A harrowing visit to Mother Nature's closet, heaped willy-nilly with containers full of weather, produces the box. But an exhausted Eli doesn't need the powder as he slips into sleep and sweet dreams, awakening in his own bed and to a joyous reunion with his father. Steeped in dreamy sepia tones suffused with golden light and brightened by unexpected patches of electric blue, the illustrations are lush and painterly. Using spreads combined with comic-style panels, Rocco creates a hint of a graphic novel for the youngest readers. This original fantasy melds high adventure with a retro 1940s look in a long narrative perfect for older preschoolers and early elementary children. Readers will linger over the pictures and cheer for the businesslike but heroic Eli, who discovers that sometimes things can just fix themselves.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

With a subtle subtext of a boy missing his WWII soldier father, this imaginative story will engage readers despite the overly long text. Eli Treebuckle--fixer, inventor, and nightmare sufferer--heads to the Moonpowder factory at Mr. Moon's request to rescue sweet dreams for the world and for himself. The lushly rendered warm-toned illustrations brim with fantastical details. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Rocco crafts a set of copper-colored retro dreamscapes for this tale of a lad who shakes off his own recurrent nightmare by repairing the celestial machinery that creates sweet dreams--or rather, the titular powder that produces them. Clad in pajamas and a leather pilot's cap, young Eli leaves his bedroom, flying into the night sky with the importunate Moon aboard a "helio-rocket-copter" of his own design. Having checked huge, geared wheels, riveted tanks and antique gauges, he ventures at last into Mother Nature's jumbled closet for a pinch of Moonpowder to prime the empty pump, then wakes in the morning after a soaring dream to greet his uniformed father stepping off the bus. Partly related in wordless panels reminiscent of David Wiesner's stories, this offering will draw fans of other elaborately illustrated Moon tales such as Lynda Gene Rymond's Oscar and the Mooncats (2007) and Dean Morrissey and Stephen Krensky's Crimson Comet (2006). In keeping with its closing images of Eli's returning dad, it is topically enough dedicated "to the children of soldiers everywhere." (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.