''Basket Moon'' is a 1999 children's book by Mary Lyn Ray. It was illustrator

Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of 110 children's books, published over sixty years. She received two Caldecott Medals for her work on ''Chanticleer and the Fox'' (1958) and '' Ox-Cart Ma ...

's last children's book, published six months before she died. The book depicts the folk art of basket-making in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Plot

''Basket Moon'' is set in Columbia County, New York. The book details a 19th-century boy who makes baskets and sells them in town, similar to Cooney's earlier book, ''

Ox-Cart Man ''Ox-Cart Man'' is a 1979 children's book written by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. It won the 1980 Caldecott Medal.American Library AssociationCaldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present URL accessed 27 May 2009. The book tells of the ...

'', which received the 1980 Caldecott Medal. He dreams of selling baskets in the town of

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

, and finally makes the trip on foot with his father, under the

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...

. After their trip, the townspeople mock them for being hillbillies, but the boy's neighbor reminds him of the value and skill of his craft.

Reception

The book was praised by '' Education Week'', which noted Cooney's illustrations for imparting "a strong sense of place," as well as Ray's

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

story. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' also praised Ray's "touchingly luminous" story and Cooney's "poetic paintings."

References

1999 children's books Picture books by Barbara Cooney American picture books Children's books set in New York (state) Children's books set in the 19th century {{Child-picture-book-stub