Blog Tour: Review of The Night the Moon Ate My Room! by Jesse Wilson + Give@way

Today I'm excited to have the tour for The Night the Moon Ate My Room stop by my blog!  I thoroughly enjoyed this middle book and am excited to share my thoughts with you all!

For the rest of the tour stops please go to the tour page.

Thanks to Jen at A Book and a Latte for coordinating the tour! 

The Night the Moon Ate My Room! by Jesse Wilson
Released September 4, 2012 / Tate Publishing
ISBN: 1620241749 / ISBN13: 9781620241745

The moon was bright and full that night, bigger than I could ever even remember it.

Maybe because it was moving towards me...

After giving the worst violin recital of his life, and being laughed at by the entire school, the boy vows to never play music again. Later that night, when the moon swallows up his bedroom, it shares the secrets of being a true artist, helping the boy re-claim his self-confidence, overcome the pitfalls of perfectionism, and believe in his own dream.

Each of the five stories in The Night the Moon Ate My Room! is designed for young readers to experience the joy of self-discovery, valuable life lessons, and the adventure of turning their greatest dreams into reality.

Book Links:  Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Book Depository
The Night the Moon Ate My Room is a very different sort of book, but in the very best way.  This is a book about empowering yourself, having confidence in yourself, and following your dreams.  But it's done in a storytelling way.  It starts out with this boy who had a very bad day because he forgot the song he was playing on his violin and everyone laughed at him.  He was embarrassed and angry and was determined he would never play the violin again.  But then the Moon showed up and ate his room!  And then moon starts talking to him, finding out why he had such a bad day.  In the rest of the chapters (other than the last one when the boys room is returned) are sort of short stories that the moon tells this boy about things that are inspiring.  Other kids that have felt defeated, or hurt or angry and how they found their strength.  Not all of these are kids, at one time it's birds.  But they show the kids things like not judging people, finding inner strength and following your dreams.  Each chapter is pretty short, but has a complete 'story' within it.  

My kids are 7 and 3 (almost 8 and 4) and I'm not sure if they were comprehending everything.  I think they kind of tune me out sometimes.  But once finishing each chapter I was able to sit with them and explain things a bit and urge them to think about what it meant, or what it could mean.  And it brought about a lot of discussions like bullying, not judging people and following our dreams (just a couple I remember off the top of my head).  I think this is a great book for that.  

My favorite part of the book is definitely the discussions it brought about and I'll be rereading this one to them each year.  I think it's important for kids to follow their dreams and remember to overcome those obstacles, not to let them stand in their way.  (Just one important message of many.)

Disclosure: I received this book for review.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jesse Wilson is an author, motivational performer, illustrator, and teacher. A life-long involvement with theatre and film as both performer and writer began early, growing up in Hollywood, CA, where he performed in plays, TV shows and commercials. A graduate of the LA High School for the Performing Arts, Jesse traveled east to attain a BFA for theatre in the prestigious Juilliard School. Remaining in New York, and later Philadelphia, he developed material for his one-man shows, performed throughout the region. His most recent production, “Face the City,” written for high school and college audiences, combines visual and animation projections in a multimedia presentation of the artist's journey to find themselves in the "real world." “The Night the Moon Ate My Room!” written and performed with music for young audiences to experience self-discovery, is created with the support of The Kennedy Center’s Imagination Celebration and Pikes Peak Library District. 

Coming soon this year, building upon the success of “The Night the Moon Ate My Room!” a series of empowering books for children, written and illustrated by Jesse Wilson, will be published under the title “Brilliant Mistakes!”

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

 One lucky commenter is entered to win an ebook copy of  The Night the Moon Ate My Room, just say "please enter me" in your comment.  If I don't know a way to contact you leave a twitter handle or email so I can find you.

This giveaway runs through Feb. 5th, 2013

It's open worldwide.

For the Grand Prize Tour Wide Giveaway, which is a signed paperback copy of The Night the Moon Ate My Room along with an "11 x 15" custom illustration, enter using the rafflecopter below.  This portion is open to US addresses only.

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