Fonchito and the Moon

K-Gr 2–In this story, Fonchito admires his beautiful classmate Nereida from afar, longing to kiss her on the cheek. When he finally finds the courage to speak to Nereida and ask her if he can, she says she will let him kiss her cheek—but only if he brings the moon down for her. To Fonchito, this must mean no, because there is no way he can bring down the moon. But one night as he gazes up at the moon, Fonchito sees its reflection in a bucket of water, and realizes that this is the way he can bring the moon down. This whimsical picture book, with its unique focus on the moon, brings to mind similar titles such as Rino Alaimo’s The Boy Who Loved the Moon and Eric Carle’s Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me. The lovely illustrations play with proportions and angles, creating a magical world where readers can spot some of the stars hanging down by strings, while the text conveys both Fonchito’s nervousness as he experiences his first crush and Nereida’s decisiveness as she considers his request.