One lighthouse, one moon /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Here, in one book, are the days of the week, the months of the year, the four seasons, the basic colors, and an exciting counting adventure -- all conceived, staged, and presented by the incomparable Anita Lobel. You can savor each of the three stories separately or think of them as three acts in one play. However you do it, a standing ovation is guaranteed!

10 Best Illustrated Books of 2000 (NY Times Book Review)

01 Riverbank Review Magazine's Children's Books of Distinction Award Nominations

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Lobel (Alison's Zinnia) covers the days of the week, the months of the year and a nautical count from one to 10 ("One Lighthouse, One Moon") in this eclectic, quirky triptych of a picture book. A cat named Nini acts as the thread that ties them all together; she introduces each segment perched on an armchair, then sneaks into nearly every illustration as either an observer or a participant. In richly tinted watercolor and gouache paintings, Lobel rolls out the colors and the days of the week in a section titled "All Week Long," via the footwear of a girl who appears only from the knees down ("Black shoes on Monday. Red shoes on Tuesday" and so on). Each painting conveys details of the nameless girl's life: on Saturday she dances in pink ballet slippers; she wears white with her Sunday best. The opener for the progression of months in "Nini's Year" shows a 12-panel framed picture, each featuring a symbol associated with its month. The following pages elaborate on each ("In September Nini played in the autumn leaves. In October Nini posed on a pumpkin"); cat lovers will notice the physical change in Nini in December as she waits for "good things"--kittens (the fireplace mantle shows Christmas and Kwanza cards and a menorah). The three-pronged format is refreshingly different, and Lobel segues seamlessly from one theme to the next. Ages 4-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

PreS-K-Lobel's beautiful watercolor-and-gouache paintings are the heart of this concept book, which is divided into three "chapters." The first section shows a different pair of shoes in a different color for each day of the week. The middle section introduces the months of the year via the activities and antics of a cat named Nini. The final section is a seaside counting exercise from "ONE lighthouse" to "TEN trees bent in the wind. And ONE HUNDRED stars and ONE moon lit up the sky." Although there is no story line per se, the book combines text and illustration quite successfully and really works. There is humor and repetition throughout, and Nini appears on each double-page spread even when she is not the focus of attention. The artwork provides the essential information and adds richness and texture through the use of bold colors and detailed brushwork. This is a fresh approach to the concepts covered, and has great visual appeal.-JoAnn Jonas, Carlsbad City Library, San Diego, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Ages 3^-7. A lighthouse, wonderful shoes, and a ubiquitous striped cat are among the lovely, interrelated images that make up this three-part introduction to days, seasons, colors, counting, and other basics. The first section pictures a little girl's feet as they journey through a week, with a different colored shoe marking each day's activity--red cowboy boots on Tuesday, green gardening clogs on Friday. The second section shows Nini the cat in postcard-size images that reflect those from the 12 months of the year. The title section presents the numbers 1 through 10 in serene images of shoreline activity, ending with a powerful, luminous spread of "one hundred stars and one moon" reflected in a deep-indigo sea. The simple phrases are lyrical in places, and Lobel's beautiful paintings, with their rich patterns and textures, luxurious detail, and sophisticated palette, will inspire children to linger over the pages and connect new words with images. Suitable for read-alouds; ideal for lap sharing. --Gillian Engberg

Horn Book Review

(Preschool) The cat Nini and her home territory link the three parts of this innovatively structured book. In the first section, ""All Week Long"" (""Black shoes on MONDAY. Red shoes on TUESDAY""), Lobel's portraits-from the knees down-celebrate a child's footgear while revealing new activities each day-yellow sandals for the beach on Thursday, green clogs in the garden on Friday, pink ballet shoes on Saturday; Nini the cat is a constant, curious observer. In ""Nini's Year"" the little gray cat herself enjoys month-appropriate activities that culminate in December when she's plumply expectant on a red-and-green quilt, waiting for ""good things."" Year's end finds her cozy by the fire with three new kittens. The eponymous third section, which could stand alone as a counting book, garners added value from its context, extending Nini's experience to a nearby lighthouse and beyond-people on shore, creatures of the sea and air, and ""ONE HUNDRED stars and ONE moon."" The whole book is rich in such connections: the shoes introduce a glorious palette of colors that children will enjoy identifying when they reappear as bright accents throughout the book. The book also rejoices in the diversity of things to do and see around Nini's seaside home, from the daily round to larger cycles-from snow to summer to snow, from kittenhood to motherhood, from the intimate space measured by a little girl's feet to the movement of the stars. Each page is an elegantly simple, expertly crafted composition, each spread a harmonious contrast; the theme and tempo of each part contributes to a satisfying whole. From the pre-title painting that sets the scene with a moonlit view of the cat on her doorstep to a last sunlit vignette of mother and kittens at sea, this lovely book will reward reading and rereading, again and again. j.r.l. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

In three short chapters of just a few words each, Lobel demonstrates her artistry for choosing the right ingredients to create a perfect concept book around the life of a small gray-striped cat. "All Week Long," the first story or chapter, presents not only the days of the week, but also colors, and in the process, accomplishes a fine assessment of one little girl's activities by focusing, cat's-eye view, on her footwear. Tuesday's flashy red cowboy boots take her bike-riding, and Saturday's demure pink toe shoes inspire Nini, the cat, to lift an elegant paw and so on. The second segment, "Nini's Year," evokes much more about months than simply their names, even during March, when the howling winds Nini listens to wouldn't seem to give an ordinary artist much to go on visually. The surprise here is the Nini of December, who "waited for good things," and proudly accepts her holiday gifts--three gray-striped kittens. The titular third story may seem a book-bulking appendage or a pretext for including number concepts, but it is also the necessary expansion of Nini's world, for she is a cat of the outdoors. Here her presence is diminished so that sometimes only a head peeps from the edges of white-framed illustrations depicting life around her home near a lighthouse. The book's culminating spread shows one moon smiling at a 100-starred cat constellation above a very tiny cat. There's neither a missing elementary concept nor a jarring fly in the ointment of this bewitching cat's charmed life. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Anita Lobel (née Kempler) was born on June 2, 1934. She is a Polish-American illustrator of children's books, including A New Coat for Anna, This Quiet Lady, Alison's Zinnia, and On Market Street, which won a Caldecott Honor for illustrations. One Lighthouse, One Moon, one of two books she created about her cat, Nini, is a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Her childhood memoir, No Pretty Pictures, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Lobel was born in Krakow, Poland. She was forced to hide in a convent during WWII, but was captured by the Nazis. She and her brother were forced to go into a concentration camp in Germany; they were rescued in 1945 by the Swedish Red Cross. They were lucky to be reunited with their parents in 1947. In 1952, her family moved to New York, and she then attended Pratt Institute for Art. Lobel graduated with a B. F. A. in Fine Arts. Lobel met her husband, Arnold, at Pratt while acting in a play.

Anita's major works include: Alison's Zinnias, Sven's Bridge, On Market Street, and One Lighthouse, One Moon. She has been nominated for numerous awards including selections for the Best Illustrated Book from New York Times Book Reviews (Sven's Bridge, On Market Street and One Lighthouse, One Moon). On Market Street also received a Caldecott Honor Book Award, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award (illustration), and is an American Book Award finalist.

(Bowker Author Biography)