The Moon's Revenge

by Joan Aiken

Book Overview

Seppy forces the moon to give him his wish, to be the maker of enchanted fiddle music, but almost pays a horrible price for it. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394893808
• ISBN13: 9780394893808
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

3rd Grader says "Must Buy"

My third grader came home from school talking about this book and said mom "you really, really, REALLY need to buy this book. It is a heartwarming story and is very mysterious (mysterious is good)"

A Haunting, Evocative Book

A collaboration between popular writer Joan Aiken and famous artist Alan Lee (best known for his Tolkien illustrations) - what more could you ask for? Aiken provides the story, based in old legends and folklore, and Lee works magic with his watercolours to create a deep and evocative atmosphere, while at the same time keeping a sense of realism to the tale.Seppy is the seventh son of a seventh son in a family that makes carriages - but his only wish is to become a wonderful violinist like his grandfather. To find out how to succeed in this path, he goes one night to an abandoned house where bodiless voices are said to whisper to one another, and ask for their advice. They tell him that all he needs to do is throw a shoe at the moon each night for a week. Baffled, Seppy obeys, but finds that after marring the moon's beautiful white face with the marks of his shoes, it imposes on him a terrible revenge: in return for success as a fiddler, he must go barefoot for seven years, his sister will never speak a word, and he and his family will be in terrible danger.Sure enough, any shoe that is placed on Seppy's feet instantly falls apart, his new-born sister Octavia never utters a word, and the portents begin brewing that something terrible is on its way... But throughout all this Seppy's talent as a violinist grows to magical proportions, and his skill with his new violin (given to him through ghostly means) may just hold the key to protecting not only his family, but the entire seaport he lives in.If there is a fault in this tale, it is that Joan Aiken emcompasses too many strands of plot into what should be a more simple folktale. As it is, one is never quite clear what is the main story line - is it the Moon's curse? Seppy's musical development? The threat of the sea monster? As well as this, several small enigmas presented in the story are never completely unwound, and though some - like the formless voices in the abandoned house - are best left mysteries, other just make it seem as if the book has drifted to an incomplete ending. For instance, how and why does Octavia begin to speak? Why does the monster shrink? How do the shoes get back in the clock?But despite these confusions, the stunning illustrations of Alan Lee more than make up for them; he is the only artist to my knowledge that can make a dancing sea serpent in giant shoes look completely realistic. He invokes the moorlands and the seaport perfectly, either by day or under the ghostly light of the moon, and any complaints over the story are swept away by the mysterious mood of the watercolours - ghostly kings, crashing waves, mist-shrouded beaches, craggy rocks, and of course the seaweed covered sea serpent are all completely convincing and provocative. Lee captures movement, scenery, action, stillness and otherworldliness perfectly, and any fans of his work will not be disappointed with his illustrations here.So even though the move from the haunting, murky atmosphere of the first half o

a favorite to read aloud

A boy named Seppy is granted a wish by the moon but must live with the moon's revenge for 7 years. I first read this book aloud to my 2 girls on a car trip, it remains a favorite and has been read aloud many times. It is beautifully illustrated, with a great monster at the end.