The Man in the Moon (The Guardians of Childhood)

Beautiful, shimmering illustrations. Simply gorgeous- it's as if the pages are actually giving off light. I'm not feeling the story though. It felt more like a sketch or an outline of a story than an actual, developed story. None of the characters are particularly sympathetic or appealing. The villain makes a short appearance, with no real explanation of his m.o., the "guardians of childhood" seem like an afterthought, and the main character seems to have no inner life at all. I know this is fantasy, but I think fantasy can and should have depth, and this story didn't have any depth to me.

With all the talented authors in the world- why do publishers keep turning out such tripe.

The reviewers of this book must have been asleep when reading-or totally sucked in by the artwork. While the illustrations are charming and imaginative the story is just horrible. Parents bring their infant son away to save him from doom but on the journey he loses his parents and his guardian before being marooned on a ship that becomes our moon- from which he helps children on earth-yuck. I don't mind 'dark' stories- but in addition to the dreary plot, this book is just BAD, there is no interesting language, no poetic imagery, no plot development, characters are added and discarded with no thought, and none of the characters-not even Mim the title character- has any depth, warmth, intelligence, or empathy or is even likable.

I returned my book and strongly suggest that no one give this to any child without reading it first.

What a fabulous, beautifully illustrated book that tells a unique story about the man in the moon. This is one of those books that reads like a movie you'd want to take your kids to see. I'm not sure what I was drawn more towards, the absolutely amazing artwork or the fantastic story.

Have you ever wondered who or what lived on the moon? William Joyce's debut The Man in The Moon not only introduces to the jolly man who lives there (nope I'm not talking Santa Claus), he'll also tell you how he got there. We're huge fans of the moon in our home, and I can say for certainty that next time we're looking up at the moon, we'll all be looking for the wonderful man in the moon, the guardian of children.

This book is a beautiful, creative story that will allow your children's imaginations to soar. I'm definitely not a kid, and this book appealed to my inner child. I thoroughly enjoyed being whisked away in this whimsical story. This is a book I'd highly recommend adding to your personal library collection or school libraries.

This felt like an unfinished story, a bit underdeveloped. I found it to be on the pretentious side for kids with mature word choices. Few of the characters were appealing, lacking in personality. The main character was a creepy man-baby. My younger kids seemed confused by him…me too. Seriously. The storyline was a little dark; it seemed geared toward older children as it was focused on nightmares and besides that, the baby’s parents were killed in a fight. They then became a star constellation which was odd according to my kids. We liked the glowing character Nightlight the best as he watched over the baby to keep his heart happy while guarding his hopes and dreams. I will say that the illustrations were wonderful; Pitch particularly had a cool shadowy persona. It read that he had a “shifting shape” and he “sailed in his Nightmare Galleon on waves of fear—plundering planets, extinguishing stars, and scuttling every airship that crossed his path.” As a villain though, he only made a brief appearance with little explanation as to why he wanted others to experience nightmares. It was a rather strange tale.

My almost eight-year-old daughter and I have been captivated by The Guardians ever since we watched the movie trailer several weeks ago, and since both of us love fantasy-themed stories and movies, we are eager to view the film (maybe we can convince my husband to tag along too!) Anyway, I was delighted to find that there is a series of books based on The Guardians of Childhood and The Man in the Moon is the first in the series.

Author-illustrator William Joyce deserves praise, for both the wonderfully imaginative storyline as well as the vivid illustrations that bring the world of the Guardians vibrantly alive. This story is about MiM, the Man in the Moon, and also the first Guardian of Childhood. Before MiM came to be what he is, he was a baby, who together with his parents and a loyal friend named Nightlight, traveled the galaxy on their ship called the Moon Clipper. This was the Golden Age - an idyllic time of peace and hope and joy, but darkness comes in the form of the malignant Pitch, King of Nightmares and a battle ensues. When all is quiet once more, MiM finds himself alone, and his parents have turned into a constellation.

So the little Man in the Moon gradually grows up, experiencing a happy childhood with the help of Lunar Moths, Moonbots, Moonmice, and Glowworms, all beautifully depicted in the full-color illustrations that seem so lifelike they appear to be eager to fly out of the pages of the book! When the little Man in the Moon is no longer little but a full grown man, he decides that the children of Earth need to be protected from the darkness of nightmares and for this very important task he needs help, and thus the Guardians of Childhood are born - the Man in the Moon, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and the Easter Bunny, among others.

This is a book that will captivate people of all ages. The rich visuals will enthrall young and old alike and the creative, unique story is one that will ignite the imaginations of all that read this amazing book.

The book was beautiful. The storyline is incredibly creative, which is why I selected it in the first place. This entire series had been recommended to me as reading material for bedtime routine. We as a family love to read, but this series isn't for us. I may read them for myself as I think the themes are a little dark for small children. If your children aren't very sensitive and don't pick up on subtle clues then this book and the others will be great to read as they do have good winning over evil in the end, but my four year old had a hard time sleeping after figuring out that the baby's mom and dad were killed along with his guardian who gave up his life to save him, and thus the baby becomes the man in the moon.
I think we'll have to stick with some of the other lighter classics :)!
Once again though the book was not bad, just not for very sensitive children. The other series is quite dark as well.

Reason for Reading: I received this book unsolicited but it captured my fancy as soon as I saw it.

This is an absolutely beautiful book. First of all it reminds me of a late 19th century picturebook with the lavish illustration, the text and the layout when looking at the endpages, the title page, the first page and so on. It has that old-time feel about it, but as one really starts looking the illustrations one recognizes the steampunk theme, the clockworks, the airships. Pure delight! In fact I'm not sure whether I enjoyed the pictures or the story most here. A whimsical story of how the man in the moon got to be there, what he does and how he gathered the guardians of childhood together. Starting with himself, the keeper of lost balloons and secret wishes, he also found Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and others who would protect children from Pitch the keeper of Nightmares. This is a book for all ages and just the beginning of a new series that will include picture and chapter books. This one must be bought in the 'tree' version though, you simply will not get the same aesthetic experience from an ereader!

I saw this book at the bookstore what first caught me was the name of the book...The man in the moon. Once I opened the book the artwork took over me. It's beautiful. The story is amazing. I love everything about it. Upon showing it to two friends they said it reminded them a little of Steam Punk...which got me to thinking, this would be the perfect baby shower gift for my future niece/nephew due in March, since my brother is a huge fan of Steam Punk. Beautiful book!! Can't wait to see more of the series!!

Wonderful! My four-year old just adores this story and gets lost in all of the beautiful illustrations. We have been blessed with the birth of our son a little less than two weeks ago so I have had my hands full. Having story time with my son before bed has been a sacred little ritual we share and this book has been sublime for us both. I love how excited he gets to read the Man in the Moon and how he loves to retell the tale after we have finished. This book has elevated story time into a truely magical and imaginative experience. I can't say enough. This book, and "Oh, The Places You'll Go" are my all time favorites.

In this celestial picture book, William Joyce tells the story of a guardian of childhood, the man in the moon, from infancy to adulthood. The man in the moon moves through space with his companion and guardian, Nightlight. Nightlight keeps the man in the moon safe from nightmares and other danger. Together, they travel through the Golden Age, and the man in the moon makes it to the moon itself. Once there, the man in the moon becomes a guardian of children on earth, keeping them safe from harm and guarding their hopes and dreams. With rich text and beautiful illustrations, children ages 6-9 will love to explore this celestial world.

The Guardians of Chidlhood is THE book that will bring you back to childhood, while you waited for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, tried to see the Tooth Fairy in the night, chuckled in fear of the Dark and of what could be hidden within it's blackness or longed for the most beautiful dreams you could ever remember. It is of those stories you can read on and on forever until you've finished it, for you won't rest until you know the end of it ! Beauty, wonder, fear, hope and pleasure twisted together to give you a story worthy of the young Katherine's tales, and that holds more treasure in its pages than anything valuable in the whole world. To read and to discover again and again !

What an amazing book! I am not usually moved when I read bead-time stories for my kids: most children's books seem to be the "crocodile met a mouse"-type with no real plot. This book is an exception. The graphics are mesmerizing and the story is lovely. The story stays in my thoughts and I can't wait to read it again... Both my children (aged 6 and 9) loved it.

One of the most well-written and beautifully illustrated storybooks I've found! My sons (ages 5 and 7) love the story and ask for it often. I am looking forward to other titles from this collection!

What an amazing book! I am not usually moved when I read bead-time stories for my kids: most children's books seem to be the "crocodile met a mouse"-type with no real plot. This book is an exception. The graphics are mesmerizing and the story is lovely. The story stays in my thoughts and I can't wait to read it again... Both my children (aged 6 and 9) loved it.

One of the most well-written and beautifully illustrated storybooks I've found! My sons (ages 5 and 7) love the story and ask for it often. I am looking forward to other titles from this collection!

Crappy book all around. I just weeded this from the public library stacks because nobody has touched it in more than a year. One thing that amazes me about this book (and Joyce's writing in general) is that he can imagine fantastic worlds and situations, but his imagination can't stretch quite far enough to imagine these worlds and situations with characters of color in them. Joyce's books are OVERWHELMINGLY white. Not just white, but nostalgically white. Ick.