A Lot of Otters by Barbara Helen Berger

This story was very short and sweet. Our library has it marked for preschoolers, probably due to the short sentences on each page. However, the story was one you have to think about.

Mother Moon is looking for her "moonlet" child. On the page, we see a baby boy in a cardboard box, holding a book. I thought the baby was reading the book. Confusion number one. When the baby drops the book into the sea, some silly sea otters pick it up, reading it to one another as they swim along on their backs. The story is about Mother Moon, who has lost her moonlet. When she cries, her tears appear as stars. The otters dive deep down to the bottom of the sea and collect shiny bright stars from the ocean floor. When they bring them up to the surface, Mother Moon notices them and finds her baby. The baby she was looking for is the baby in the cardboard box, floating in the sea.

The illustrations in this book are awesome. She uses numerous blue colors for the sea, adding in tiny white bubbles and waves when the otters swim in it. The stars literally shine on the page. They make the page bright and enchanting. This was a fun book for young kids. It is one I would read before nap time, because the words are quiet and the moon is out.