Over the Moon

As a baby girl floats down a river in a basket, two wolves spot her and agree it’s best to save her, take her home, and raise her as their own (though one wolf was hoping to eat her, the other said they would nourish and teach her). One day, the girl spots other human children for the first time, sitting outside reading books. When she tells her wolf parents, they let her go to join the other kids at school, though the story ends with the reassurance that she’ll returns home at the end of each day. This existential story is lined with philosophic commentary through the different wolf parents—one thinking about right and wrong, the other thinking about dinner. With elements reminiscent of The Jungle Book and the Bible’s story of Moses, the refreshing oddity of Proimos’ tale veers to an unpredictable ending with the theme of growing up and going to school while successfully exhibiting the overarching thematic primal fears of children growing up and leaving their parents. Abbot’s illustrations are colorful and appealing, though somewhat simple, and wonderfully convey the child’s personality through her facial expressions. The distinguishing factor of humor and peculiarity are also what leave the book wanting, making it an interesting read that’s a little too unusual to become a favorite.