Ladder to the Moon - Reviewed

Full Bibliographic Data:

Title: Ladder to the Moon

Author: Maya Soetoro-NG

ISBN: 978-0-7636-4570-0

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication date: 02/2011

Place of Publication: Somerville, MA

In Ladder to the Moon, by Maya Soetoro-NG, A young girl wishes she could have known the grandmother whose hands she's told she has. As she lay in bed staring out the window, and imagining the woman she never met, a golden ladder appears and with it arrives "Grandma Annie". From here we are taken on a grand adventure as old Annie and young Suhaila grow to "know each other completely" through smiles and songs. Suhaila gains a broader perspective on the world she lives in as she views it from the moon with her angelic grandmother as her guide. The two generations work synchronously to help those who are suffering from various circumstances back on Earth. Upon returning home Suhaila knows "more than she had known before" including her dear "Grandma Annie".

Ladder to the Moon is the place where true folktales begin. In an effort to unite a deceased grandmother with her granddaughter, Maya Soetoro-NG has woven together a magical adventure which binds the ordinary with the extraordinary. Alongside a grandmother who can only be described as safe, Suhaila discovers the importance of family, courage, service and home. Soetoro has succeeded in creating a tale which will provide those who read it with a sense of knowing Grandma Annie but more importantly they will know the values Anne Dunham held dear.

Yuyi Morales produces images that glean with mysticism and invoke delight. Each page is rich with calming colors and multiple cultural layers. Various backgrounds are portrayed through the thoughtful drawings of timeless traits. Morales draws the reader in immediately with a luring image a "full, soft, and curious" moon, then whisks them off for a wild ride on shimmering strokes and intentional images, all which serve effortlessly to engage the reader as if they have a discovered a secret.

With starred reviews from both Booklist and Publisher's Weekly, Ladder to the Moon is "a vision of divine love, a love incarnated in a warm, round, brown-skinned grandmother...." (Publisher's Weekly, 2011).