Reading: La Luna by Enrico Casarosa

            Being an avid Disney fan, La Luna was something I'd known about for quite some time before I saw it.  I went to see the new Disney/Pixar film, Brave, and the Pixar short La Luna played before the movie started.  It was a pleasant surprise because I had totally forgot that Pixar plays a short film before their movies.  After leaving the theater I concluded that I enjoyed La Luna more than the film I actually came to see, Brave!  Everything about La Luna made me smile.  From the breathtaking animation to the colorful story to the rich film score, this Pixar short was by far the best they have ever created!  I knew that I would have to buy the book that started it all!

            Now, La Luna is in fact a picture book.  It was a very short read which took a weight off of my shoulders.  During this challenge of reading 50 books in a year, I told myself that I wouldn't cheat – meaning I wouldn't read a handful of small children's books that lay in my closet just to reach my goal faster.  I want to challenge myself.  I would only read a picture book that I felt truly deserved to be read and it had to be one that I had never read before.  Enter La Luna!  The story is about a young boy who journeys out to sea at night with his father and grandfather.  They are going to teach him what they do for a living.  Suddenly in the darkness the moon rises into the sky and the boy's father hands him an anchor and extends a ladder toward the sky, telling the boy to climb it.  The boy climbs with the anchor and when he reaches the top he is lifted up and carried until he is sitting on the moon.  There he discovers what makes the moon and his father's job fantastic while also discovering what makes him special. 

            I can start out this review by saying there was NOTHING I didn't like about this book!  I loved it!  Every bit of it was as fantastic as the Pixar short.  The artwork was beautiful and the writing was very clear and to the point yet so much was said without words.  I loved what the boy's family did for a living and I absolutely loved what the author used to make the moon so special.  I'm leaving out so many details but it is because I want everyone to see the story for themselves because it surprised me so much and I don't want to ruin it!  Anyway, I also loved how during the story the father and grandfather keep doing little things to try to get the boy to act more like one of them (for example – the father wears his hat a certain way and the grandfather wears his hat a different way.  When they give the boy his hat they each try to change the way he wears it and in the end, the boy finds his own way to wear his hat) but in the end the boy finds himself and is still apart of his family. 

            It is no surprise that I'm going to give this book 5 out of 5 stars!  It was amazing.  If you have kids, buy it now!  And if you don't, buy it now for your future kids!  And if you don't plan to have kids, buy it now anyway just to appreciate art!