81 books like Once in a Full Moon

I once was lucky enough to spend a night camping in the desert under a saguaro cactus. These big, human-looking cacti are magnificent, and this book really captures how important they are to the desert and all the animals that live there. Beautiful illustrations really make me remember that night under the stars and how impressive the giant saguaros are. I’ve learned that when kids feel a sense of awe toward nature, that’s the first step in becoming an environmentalist.

I admit it, I’m a sucker for glow-in-the-dark books. I still have the glow-in-the-dark stars on the bedroom ceiling from when my own kids were small. This book has gorgeous glow-in-the-dark illustrations (it works best if you happen to have a blacklight bulb) but also has a lot of great information, facts, and thought-provoking questions about the lifestyles of nocturnal wildlife of all shapes and sizes. A fun reading experience for parents as well as kids!

This book is for slightly older kids who want to delve deeper into the mysteries of the night. I like this book because it includes plants in the survey of what’s going on at night. Plants often get overlooked, but they’re just as active at night as they are during the day—they don’t move around or make noise, but there’s a lot going on inside those quiet leaves. This book also covers humans, how our brain works, why it needs sleep, and does a good job of explaining the complex topic of biological rhythms.

This book really changed my life—it opened up the night skies and taught me the constellations in a simple kid-friendly way. Lots of fun cartoons make star-gazing surprisingly possible. Once I learned how to identify a few constellations, the night became a much friendlier palace, and instead of being scared of the dark, I began to realize the incredible beauty of the night. H. A. Rey really communicates his passion for star-gazing and makes you want to go out and night and explore the skies. And if the author’s name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he’s the creator of Curious George!

I’m cheating again and giving you a recommendation for forty-four books instead of just one. This series takes the main character on a journey of discovery into her witchy heritage and solves murders along the way. I’ve read several, but not all, of the series and I find them funny and engaging. Nothing earth-shaking here, but lots of magical fun. Very pleasant to read by the light of the moon after you’ve cast your spells and put away your potions.

I’m a fan of many of this author’s books, though I haven’t read them all yet. But I love this story because it is so unique and entertaining. Mandy is the world’s only half-sheep girl, and while she has a few sheepish qualities, this character is not weak at all, and she doesn’t let differences stand in the way of making friends. This story is packed with excitement but also with solid messages and Christian themes. It speaks to an issue relevant to everyone: regardless of the strength of the temptations we face, we need to work hard to rise above our impulses and do the right thing. And the least likely characters in this story are the greatest examples of resisting nearly overpowering urges.

This is a werewolf story with teeth.

For people who like traditional scary werewolves and a well written, believable community structure and strong plot and characters, this one is top of the class. There are characters to love, characters to hate and no punches pulled on who might get slaughtered.

The best part is that you still want to see the werewolves win.

James Herbert is another of my favourite authors who we lost far too soon. He was, primarily, a horror writer and this is his masterful take on the serial killer genre. He creates a deeply flawed main character – a clairvoyant who is afraid of his own abilities. But he can no longer ignore his gift/curse when he starts glimpsing horrific acts through the eyes of a monster that are seemingly triggered by a full moon. I read this when I was far too young (I nicked it from my Dad’s bookshelf), and the memory of its twists and turns chill me to this day.    

I love learning about other cultures, and this Spanish-born author delivers. This book is the sequel to Two Moon Princess, but you can read it first or by itself. Billed as a young adult romance, it touched this older woman’s heart. Two young lovers travel back in time to the Arab occupation of Spain, with the full moon as a portal. I love reading about other authors’ time portals! The beautiful descriptions of the mountains in northern Spain convey the author’s love of her home, and made me want to go there – in the current century, of course! 

Sun and Moon is a simple story. Moon is bored with the night sky and the darkness with nothing to see and suggests a swap for a day to Sun. Sun says any swap must be permanent and suggest Moon takes a closer look at the world at night before making a decision. Moon is amazed by the things he sees, the colors, the people and animals, and night activities. The luminous illustrations are quite exquisite, and they are the reason I have chosen this book. They are very detailed and slanted so we view them as through the moon. Children wear quaint old-fashioned clothes. We see them flying through magical dreams. We see scampering raccoons and fireflies gleaming like stars. By the end of the book we are as entranced as the moon is.