If The Moon

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 4 MAG 2026

A quilt becomes a portal to possibility in this reassuring bedtime readaloud from Burgess (Words with Wings and Magic Things) and Forsythe (Aggie and the Ghost). Via phrases that begin with "If," incantatory lines carry a sleepless child from their bedroom ("If can be a dark room/ where worries swell and rise") into the panels of an elaborate quilt, launching a cascade of radiant transformations. After slipping into a quilt block, the child, portrayed with pale skin and dark hair, swims to a small watercraft ("If can be a raft"), then morphs from the boat's captain into a fish, a hummingbird, an owl, and more. Each metamorphosis prompts a dreamy question in approachable lulling rhythms: "If you slept upside down like a bat/ would your dreams look like that?" Watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil compositions reward lingering: layered in deep jewel tones, folk art patterning, and chalky surfaces, they shift across vivid landscapes that stretch luxuriously across the spreads. The poem's quiet confidence and the art's ambitious scope make excellent bedfellows, transforming a familiar premise—conquering nighttime fears—into something genuinely transporting. Ages 3–7. Author's agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary Studio. Illustrator's agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary.