From School Library Journal

PreS-While out for a walk, Emily's mother buys a yellow helium-filled balloon, which she ties to her daughter's finger for safekeeping. Once home, she attaches the string to Emily's spoon so the new plaything will float within the child's reach. The child plays with her toy in the house and garden, and when a breeze blows it into a tree, she is heartbroken. After her mother promises to retrieve the wayward balloon in the morning, Emily must be content to observe her portly friend safe in the tree, glowing like the moon and watching over her. The yellow balloon and its blue string stand out in a simple color palette of white, gray, and tan with a few accents of red. The illustrations, rendered in watercolor and charcoal, are placed on tan pages and surrounded by unadorned thin, round-edged black frames. A tale of a common childhood experience, tenderly and sweetly told.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
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Review

"A tale of a common childhood experience, tenderly and sweetly told." - School Library Journal

"The brevity of text combined with relatively simple illustrations make this tale perfectly suited to a toddler's interest, working well for either cozy shared storytime or for larger groups during read-aloud sessions." -Kirkus Reviews

"Sakai's quiet voice represents loss as small children experience it: sometimes, she seems to say, although we can't have what we love close to us, they are still there-just like the moon. A dog-eared favorite in the making." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Sakai's minimal text segues fluidly and coherently from an omniscient narrator's voice to that of Emily's mother and even Emily herself and is nicely matter-of-fact, never condescending nor sentimental in its acceptance of object as friend. The lack of an adult filter on child experience is refreshing and effective." -The Horn Book, starred review

About the Author

Komako Sakai lives in Japan, and studied art in Tokyo. She worked in textile design before beginning to illustrate children's books. She is the winner of the Japanese Picture Book Prize. This is her first book in English.