Jan B. Balet (The Five Rollatinis) is the German-born author-illustrator behind the warm, wonderful picture book Amos and the Moon, originally published in 1948.
Amos's bedroom is glowing with "a strange blue light" coming out of his mirror! It is the moon. Amos thinks, "Tomorrow the moon and I will play together. The moon will always live in my mirror." The next morning, the moon is gone, so Amos heads out to the local shops to search for it. Amos asks the mustachioed iceman, "Have you seen my moon?" The iceman plays along: "It is a very hard thing to hold onto the moon, you know." He gives Amos a piece of ice to show that it will melt away, just like the moon. John, the elegant junkman, gives him a toy horse on wheels for the boy's "long journey" to find the moon. All the shopkeepers--except the inexplicably angry barber--give the moon-seeking boy a present, from a lemon to a piece of bologna. The laundryman, Joe, gives Amos a birdcage to hang in front of his mirror because "maybe once or twice a month, you will catch the moon, and he will be with you for a little while."
Amos and the Moon is a lovely introduction to the wondrous movements of the moon and a touching ode to a small, kindly community that's big on personality. Balet outdoes himself with enticing illustrations of the shopkeepers' colorful, artfully composed windows--from Zirimis Pastry Shop to C. Wegelin Swiss Watchmaker--all bursting with curiosities, cakes and clocks. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness