So gorgeous and moving! I loved this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early reading copy.

A wonderfully illustrated book about the anticipation of playing hockey in the great north. Thank you for the opportunity to review this one.

A very good children's book! Well written, with lots of adventure and magic and warm feelings. I enjoyed how Harbridge described the world and made these cosy winter's night seem so real.

Makes me remember the nights we skated by moonlight on the outdoor flooded basketball courts of the local elementary schools. Vivid ,perfect picture book of the time and place..

Beautiful, expressive and evocative illustrations that make a simple story, magical and deeply satisfying. Definitely pick it up for your kids, nephews and nieces! 😊

This book is definitely targeted towards audience that are younger than I thought. I think the story is lovely and the illustration is magical- it makes me can't wait to experience snow myself!- but the story just felt too simple to me. I feel like children (who is the target audience for this book) will definitely enjoy the story though!

'When the Moon Comes' by Paul Harbridge with illustrations by Matt James is a story of winter and moonlit lakes.

A nearby beaver pond has flooded. Now that the cold of November has come, it has frozen over, but it's not quite time to go play hockey. The boys wait impatiently until it is time. Then they walk into the woods in the cold and build a fire to keep warm. They put on their skates and clear the snow so they can play in the moonlight.

I loved the prose of this story. It's written with an elegance and beauty that I didn't think I'd find in this sort of story. I was a little less enamored of the illustration style, but it serves the story well enough.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Tundra Books, Penguin Random House Canada, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

The artwork by Matt James is so beautiful. I really liked it. However, I could not get into the story or the way it was written. I can see how a child might like it to be read out loud to them, or a child who can read might enjoy it.

In this beautifully told picture book, a group of children anxiously wait until the time is just right ("when the moon comes") for a night of skating, hockey, and memory making on a frozen lake. The figurative language and descriptions in this book are lovely. The text is perfectly complemented by the illustrations, which are as starkly beautiful as winter itself. Working in a community where hockey is pretty unfamiliar to most of my students, I'm looking forward to sharing this book with them!

On a moonlit winter night friends go to play outside. The illustrations are evocative and extend the story. The story feels nostalgic and peaceful.

So wonderful! Nostalgic look back at what childhood was like (and may well still be in pockets..) neighborhood children wait until a cold full moon night to gather at the local frozen pond for a game of hockey. Beautiful illustrations; cozy.

This was a wonderful book and I can't wait to pass it down to my son and my nieces and nephews

A very well written story about waiting for the moon and when is the perfect time to skate. It brings back memories of skating at the rink in the winter afternoon near my house!!

I loved the illustrations and how they helped build anticipation for the full moon. The descriptions of the ice waiting underneath the snow, the joy of moonlight hockey on beaver pond ice were excellent. For folks, like myself, who live far from such wonders, the author was able to bring me into his world.

This is a gorgeous picture book that spoke to me of days past. It is November and the children are waiting to go skating and play hockey on the Beaver flood. They need to wait for the full moon and it finally comes. They must trudge through the snow to get to their "perfect ice". They have a great time on the outdoor ice, with frozen pants, red cheeks and stiff hair. It brings back memories of skating on the outdoor rinks that have almost disappeared today. The illustrations are perfect for this story. This could be used as a mentor text in a class where you are teaching about predictions, drawing conclusions or comparing. A book that could also be used in a visual arts class when teaching various artistic styles. A great book for a school or class library.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Wow, this was magical book. About kids who are waiting for the magic ice to form and for the full moon to shine, so that they can skate in the night (I do wonder why the parents let their kids just go that far without supervision, oh well).

The first part of the book is the sweet anticipation, you can just feel it drip from the pages. The kids are all excited, all waiting, all hoping that the time will be there soon.
The next part is about them heading off to the ice, clearing it and having a great time.

I loved how this seemed to take place in a different time, a different era. The kids didn't have cellphones. Plus the fact they melted snow and made tea from it, then drank it with toasty sandwiches makes me think back to the books by Enid Blyton.

So for the illustrations, the style isn't the best. Sorry, I have to be honest, and that really stood out. In the greater picture, not looking at how the characters were drawn, or the perspective being out of whack, it was quite pretty. But as soon as you started looking better (as I generally do when reading graphic novels or picture books) you see it isn't that pretty.

Still I really enjoyed this book, I loved the fluffy feeling it gave me. I would recommend it to everyone!

Cute childrens book about the 'magic ice' on an untouched stretch of water in a forest. Kids in a neighborhood go on a night time field trip with a campfire, hockey, and moonlight.

I really enjoyed this, and I bet it's gorgeous in full print format where you can see the images laid out side by side.

Drawings and Text Partner Beautifully

In the wrong, (that is, heavy), hands a book like this could be twee or precious or tone deaf. Childhood nostalgia is incredibly tough, and poetic nostalgia in a children's book is the toughest of all. Have no fear - our author never comes near to skating on thin ice.

Rather, we get the children's book hat trick - evocative drawings that perfectly complement the text, restrained and sensitive but crisp and descriptive prose, and a general feeling of comfort and calm good will by the end. Wow.

I'm not Canadian, and hockey isn't my second religion, but if you've ever spent any time in the cold, snowy woods on a moonlit night this book will take you back there. Really, on the way home "[o]ur wet pants freeze solid in the cold, and we walk clanking like knights in armor, lances over our shoulders, hoods like helmets around our faces". Get me to a warm, bright campfire right now.

So, there's no reason a children's book can't be romantic and soulful, and this little gem shows you why. A delightful find. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)