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WORK TITLE: The Moon Moved In
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PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.suesoltis.com/
CITY: Chapel Hill
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COUNTRY: United States
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LAST VOLUME: SATA 358
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two sons.
EDUCATION:Binghamton University, M.A. (English).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
AWARDS:Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended selection, 2011, and CCBC Choices selection, 2012, both for Nothing like a Puffin.
WRITINGS
Also author of poetry.
SIDELIGHTS
Sue Soltis earned her master’s degree at Binghamton University and now makes her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she writes poetry and raises her two sons. Soltis gained critical praise when she wrote her first book for children, Nothing like a Puffin, which pairs her text with illustrations by Missouri-based artist Bob Kolar.
A concept book that compares and contrasts things that at first seem dissimilar, Nothing like a Puffin “is likely to draw children in with its conversational tone,” suggested Ann Kelley in Booklist. Mary Elam wrote in School Library Journal that “a bit of humor, visual hints … and motion-inspired figures pull readers from page to page” in the colorful board book, while Horn Book contributor Jennifer M. Brabander noted of Nothing like a Puffin that “kids will easily pick up the game; be prepared to read this one again and again.”
In 2020 Soltis released her second picture book, The Stars Just Up the Street. Featuring illustrations by Christine Davenier, the book stars a little girl named Mabel and her Grandpa. Grandpa tells Mabel about the many stars he used to gaze at from his rural childhood home. Mabel looks out her bedroom window to see stars herself, but she can only see a handful because the lights in her city block them out. The view from her backyard reveals only a few more stars. Mabel wants to experience the beauty of the night sky that Grandpa has been describing to her. Grandpa suggests they ask their neighbors to turn off the lights in and around their homes and join them outside to enjoy the stars. Mabel and Grandpa take their campaign further, requesting that the mayor shut off the town’s streetlights for a short time to decrease the light pollution even more. The mayor initially resists, but Mabel is ultimately successful in persuading her. When the streetlights are turned off, the people of the community are awed by the starry sky. A Publishers Weekly reviewer highlighted “the text’s plainspoken momentum.” “Graceful, readable text underscores the protagonists’ loving relationship,” commented a critic in Kirkus Reviews. The same critic described the book as “gently inspirational.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 2011, Ann Kelley, review of Nothing like a Puffin, p. 69.
Horn Book, September-October, 2011, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Nothing like a Puffin, p. 79.
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2011, review of Nothing like a Puffin; December 15, 2019, review of The Stars Just Up the Street.
Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2011, review of Nothing like a Puffin, p. 56; January 6, 2020, review of The Stars Just Up the Street, p. 42.
School Library Journal, September, 2011, Mary Elam, review of Nothing like a Puffin, p. 130.
ONLINE
Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast, http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/ (January 15, 2012), review of Nothing like a Puffin.
Upstart Crow Literary website, http://www.upstartcrowliterary.com/ (March 11, 2020), author profile.*
Soltis, Sue THE MOON MOVED IN Chronicle Books (Children's None) $11.99 7, 1 ISBN: 9781452180717
Yearning for a playmate to move into the empty house next door, Stella doesn't miss a beat when the Moon takes up residence.
The youngster ventures into the adjacent yard, greeting the celestial being, whose color (blue or white) and shape (spherical or crescent) vary with the setting. Stella's sensitive approach encourages the orb to admit to feelings of loneliness and boredom in the sky; the Moon also longs to plant things. When Stella points out that the Moon has a neighbor now, the Moon beams. The beautifully paced narrative contains the specificity, restraint, and humor that make for a truly great picture-book read. Textured digital compositions create changing moods as they move from starlit, inky night scenes to progressively more colorful, cheerful images of the Moon's burgeoning garden. Black endpapers foreground classical topographical views of the moon, along with facts that underscore the unfolding plot. People and the natural world are affected by the Moon's absence, so tides aren't moving, the Earth is wobbling, and midnight cruises have been canceled. The Moon is unperturbed, but as the orb's role in nature becomes clearer, the Moon relents and returns home. A girl Stella's age eventually moves in, and friendship blossoms, even as there are subtle, welcomed signals of the Moon's nearness. Stella is tan-skinned and dark-haired; her new friend is pale-skinned and red-haired.
A lovely foray into a world of mystery and beauty, longing and delight.(Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Soltis, Sue: THE MOON MOVED IN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A837325449/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=90203da1. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
The Moon Moved In. By Sue Soltis. Illus. by Sonia Sanchez. July 2025. 52p. Chronicle, $17.99 (9781452180717). PreS-Gr. 2.
Stella has been hoping for a new friend to move into the house next door, and she gets her wish when the "FOR SALE" sign comes down and the Moon moves in! But even as the Moon transforms the yard with a love of gardening, Stella worries that if Moon stays on the ground, all the creatures that depend on its glow will be in big trouble. But does she really want her new friend to return to the sky? Sanchez's beautiful illustrations offer equally lush, dreamy renderings of both the Moon's blooming garden and the starry night sky. The story is multifaceted, with important lessons on friendship, sacrifice, and belonging, especially as Moon realizes how much the Earth relies on its light. Young readers with an interest in science will be delighted by the lunar facts that bookend the tale. Perfect for fans of Frank Asch's classic Happy Birthday, Moon, The Moon Moved In is sure to become a favorite bedtime story.--Molly Horan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Horan, Molly. "The Moon Moved In." Booklist, vol. 121, no. 21, July 2025, p. 89. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A852212832/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0d192506. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
July 2025
The Moon Moved In
By Sue Soltis, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez
Review by Jill Lorenzini
The Moon Moved In is a charming, delightfully eccentric story with artwork that creates a tangible, welcoming world you never want to leave.
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Life (as we know it at least) cannot exist on the moon. So the Moon decides to come to Earth and take up residence in the house next to Stella—who, incidentally, has always wanted a friend. As the Moon happily dives in to tending a new garden, things on Earth grow increasingly off-kilter, leading Stella to realize her friend has bigger responsibilities than heirloom tomatoes. The Moon Moved In, written by Sue Soltis and illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, is a clever, quirky and surprisingly poignant story about the Moon’s role in the universe, and about friendship.
Soltis’ unique and clever story is flawlessly narrated, with frequent but unforced use of alliteration, assonance and consonance. These techniques, combined with vivid descriptions and effortless conversation between the Moon and Stella, make The Moon Moved In the perfect storytime tale. Few books achieve such an effortless transition from page to read-aloud. This charming story is delightfully eccentric, weaving in things as varied as dung beetles, surfing and “deadheading the begonias.”
Sánchez’s art is equally stunning. Her images, with their visible brushstrokes and pencil sketching, are expansive and detailed, creating a world that is tangible and welcoming. Lush, vibrant color explodes from edge to edge—greens and blues so alive you can almost feel them—depicting wild gardens, idyllic summer fields and night skies so deep and intriguing you never want to leave. The Moon and the background stars seem to glow with a luminosity that draws the eye and warms the page. Sánchez’s human characters are charming, but her take on the Moon is especially hilarious, with endearing features such as a pair of gardening gloves. Rarely does space have so much personality—and attitude. If that wasn’t enough, Sánchez cleverly interrupts her illustrated world with two funny newspaper insets that add an additional layer of humor and exposition.
A collection of moon facts gives readers one final reason to love The Moon Moved In, which is ultimately suitable for storytime with a wide range of young readers. The best part of being a book reviewer? Getting to read brilliant books such as this one before the rest of the world. The worst part? Having to wait till they’re published to share them.