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Imani’s Moon

The illustrations are gorgeous!  The setting is a small African village.  The problem is universal:  the smallest girl in the village getting picked on and teased by her peers.  The solution is found in the magic of imagination:  every night Imani’s mother tells her stories, and upon hearing the tale of the goddess of the moon, Imani dreams of touching the moon herself; she continues to endure the teasing of the other children as she persists with assorted failed attempt including climbing or flying to the moon.  After watching a celebration involving warriors in a traditional jumping dance, Imani jumps to the moon, meets the goddess, and receives a gift of a small glowing moon rock, and has her own story to tell.  The logical part of my brain that finds scientific fault with the way the story ends is charmed anyway by the beauty of the story.