Chinese Moon Festival is very much like Thanksgiving in North America. Families get together to admire the bright, full moon while eating sweet moon cakes and enjoying a cup of good tea. Under this full moon, friendships are renewed, families are reunited, and long-lost loved ones find their way to each other. Under the bright moonlight, people toast each other's good health, family togetherness, and wish peace for everyone. It is a time to reflect, to think of our absent loved ones, and to wish our families and friends well....

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 2–4—The first two paragraphs suggest that this book is an introduction to a lovely Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival: A full moon signifies unity and families gather to eat "moon cakes" as they "toast each other's good health, family togetherness, and wish peace for everyone." Then it morphs into a confusing, heartbreaking drama of well-off Chinese parents, a doctor and a bank official, who decide to immigrate to Canada to ensure a good education for their daughter. The child relates how she must leave her nanny, who has raised her since she was a baby. Poignantly, the nanny tells her, "I want you to remember that I will always be thinking of you." A lovely watercolor illustration shows her talking to the young girl as she points to the moon. Canada is not the paradise the adults envision; the father works in a muffin factory. The grandmother tells a sad legend about the "Moon Lady" in a distinct section of the book complete with its own unique Chinese paintings. Its theme of separation becomes real when the girl's mother returns alone to China to her high-status job: the little girl stares at a full moon and says, I miss Mama very much…. I wonder if she will ever come back to us." This story deals with adult themes that are not well articulated and lacks child appeal.—Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA
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Review
excerpt: Today is Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival. Chinese Moon Festival is very much like Thanksgiving in North America. On this night, families get together to admire the bright, full moon while eating sweet moon cakes and enjoying a cup of tea. Under this full moon friendships are renewed, families are reunited, and long-lost loved ones find their way to each other. To Share One Moon is a poignant, realistic and complex story of similarities and contrasts between cultures and countries as well as between reality and legend. Nui Nui (Mandarin for little girl) narrates the difficulties endured by the family as they adapt to a new culture and lifestyle in Canada. It is also a story of family breakdown, separation and loss. The legend of the Moon Lady, Chang-Er, and also the thoughts of an ancient Chinese poet parallel the family's story. --Grades 3-6 / Ages 8-11. Review by Deanne Coombs. CM . . . . Volume XV Number 1 . . . . August 29, 2008

The book is beautifully illustrated by two different artists who continue the theme of contrast and similarity between reality and legend. Cool colours and clean lines depict the modern Chinese family in the reality of their lives while rich colours and fluid lines exquisitely portray the legend of the Moon Lady Chang-Er. The picture of Chang-Er dwelling alone on the moon, except for her white rabbit, conveys feelings of the desolation and loneliness running concurrently throughout this book. The child portrayed in this story appears to be about five years of age while the content and language used is sophisticated and more suited to older children. There are several topics of discussion in this story which could be utilized in an educational setting in various ways. The story begins with the family s celebration of the Moon Festival in China with many friends and relatives before the family emigrates to Canada. The family has a comfortable life in China; Nui Nui's Papa is a doctor, and Mama holds a high ranking position in a bank. They, along with Nui Nui s grandmother, come to Canada as Papa feels Nui Nui will receive a better education here. Nui Nui is sad to leave her old nanny in China. To comfort her, the nanny points to the full moon and tells her of an ancient poet who says we are all under the same moon even though we live thousands of miles apart. We can still think of each other with love and remember one another. At first, the family is optimistic upon arriving in Canada, but this feeling quickly changes. Mama and Papa cannot find positions in their chosen professions in Canada. Papa has to take a job making muffins, and Mama goes to school to improve her English skills. The first Moon Festival in Canada is not a happy one. There are no friends and family to celebrate with as everyone is too busy working and studying. Grandmother (Nai Nai) is also homesick and tells Nui Nui the story of the Moon Lady, Chang-Er, who swallows two pearls her husband has been given by the Queen Mother of the West. She is punished and sent to the cold moon where she lives alone except for a white rabbit for company. She longs to return to earth and her husband. After the second Moon Festival in Canada, Mama returns to China. Papa returns to night school to study to be a doctor again. Both Papa and Nui Nui miss Mama. Nui Nui looks at the full moon and wonders whether Mama will ever come back to them At night, while Papa and Nai Nai are asleep, I sit by the window looking up at the bright, full moon. I am thinking of Mama and my nanny, and wondering if they are looking up now and sharing the same moon with me. The ancient poet and his words occur to me again, which also remind me of Nai Nai's story about the Moon Lady. Recommended. --Reviewed by Deanne Coombs. Deanne Coombs is a mother, grandmother and semi-retired teacher who lives in Winnipeg, MB, has read thousands of children's books to thousands of children and enjoyed every minute of it. CANADIAN REVIEW OF MATERIALS

I just loved it it would be PERFECT for our Moon Festival!!! I just want her mom to come back to them!!! Ok that just shows how much I got wrapped up in the story!!! I am going to post on my regular blog today about your wonderful books I just love them!! --Recommended by Becky - a children's librarian, US:

Seen through the eyes of a Chinese-Canadian young girl, To Share One Moon is a children's picturebook about the Chinese Moon Festival, a holiday similar to Thanksgiving in North America, when celebrating families get together to admire the full moon while eating sweet moon cakes and enjoying good tea. Under the full moon, friends keep in contact, families are reunited, and separated loved ones reconnect. and absent loved ones are fondly remembered. The joyful illustrations portray the happy moments of the holiday through a child's eyes, as well as her sadness over the legend behind the Chinese Moon Festival, in which the Moon Lady is tragically separated from her husband. "Under the bright Mid-Autumn moon, I make three wishes and believe they will be granted: I wish that this full moon has the magic power to hold families together. I wish that the Moon Lady will eventually return to her husband, who is still awaiting her on earth. And I wish that all loved ones, no matter where they are, will look up at this full moon tonight and think of each other with a tender heart." --James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief Diane C. Donovan, Editor Midwest Book Review 278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575