The Moon Was at a Fiesta

Ages 3-8. Full color illustrations. 32 pp. English Hardcover. The sun lights the day, and the moon lights the night, and morning seldom breaks with them both in the sky. But for those days when the moon stays out past dawn, the people of Oaxaca, Mexico, have an explanation: "It's because the Moon Was at a Fiesta," they say.

Once again, Matthew Gollub and Leovigildo Martnez have created a sumptuous and original folktale set in the artist's native Oaxaca, a story as exhilirating as a nighttime fiesta, filled with music, tamales and paper lanterns.

The story is related simply, with Spanish words thoughtfully woven into the text. The author's detailed afterword contains a glossary and notes on Mexican fiestas.