Inspiring Young Readers

posted on 20 Nov 2025

The Moon Rabbit by Eva Wong Nava, illustrated by Jason Chuang

I admit that I know very little about Chinese mythology and so looked forward to learning more about it from this picture book. There is useful and concise information at the back about the mid-Autumn festival that remembers the legend of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess, and is celebrated by Chinese people all across the world on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which this year fell on October 6th. Families gather together to eat traditional mooncakes while gazing at the moon and preparing to celebrate the start of the winter solstice.

The first thing to say is that the cover is beautifully designed. I loved the composition of flowing lines echoed in the shape of the huge moon, the robes of the Goddess and the shapes of the clouds, hills and flowers below. The gentle colour palette is predominantly cream, soft blues, greens, pinks and purple which give it an old fashioned atmosphere. When I looked at with a group of six year olds, we were intrigued to see the little girl apparently talking to a small pink rabbit and wondered who it might belong to.

On the first double pages we learn that there is a rabbit-like shape on the moon known as Chang’e – the rabbit in the moon who comes out to play. Like Meifung, the little girl in the story, we were keen to know the ancient legend and so leaned in to listen to her Mama as she hugged her daughter. As with all traditional tales, this one is very strange and magical, but the text is simple and lyrical helped by the plentiful illustrations:

‘Imagine a world where the day was so bright with ten blazing suns fixed in the sky.

Imagine a love so strong that it made the gods cry because there was nothing they could do to break this bond’.

We talked about how very uncomfortable it might be to live in that climate this before continuing with the story and were then concerned that the earth was described ‘as hot as an erupting volcano’. Chang’e lives with her husband, Lord Archer Houyi and together they spend their happiest times looking at the moon at night when the earth is a much more comfortable temperature . As they see a rabbit shape on its surface she wishes that she could ‘fly to the cool disc in the sky and live there amongst the shadows’.

Houyi loves her dearly and so decides that he wants to make her wish come true using his excellent archery skills to destroy nine of the burning suns. The result is that flowers and fruit start to bloom on the trees and the birds sing happily – the world is truly beautiful. There are other unforeseen benefits that include the delight of Xiwangmu the Queen Mother of the West, and also the most important female deity in Chinese mythology, who rewards Houyi with a potion for long life. But when Chang/e discovers the secret potion and drinks it, we knew that there was probably trouble ahead. I will leave you to discover how she became the Moon Goddess and how Houyi eventually found solace with his friends. As for the pink rabbit….we enjoyed spotting him on every page that showed the earth and the moon.

Once the ancient legend has been shared, Meifung and her Mama get ready to enjoy the paper lantern parade and help Baba to make a special wish before sending one into the night sky. We spent a long time looking at the final double page spread showing the beautiful and impressive lanterns watched by people celebrating the Moon festival together.

I strongly recommend this beautifully illustrated picture book that will hopefully inspire children to look for more information about Chinese culture and to be inspired to create their own art work in a similar style. It is published by Walker Books and is available to buy from your local independent bookshop who will order a copy for you if not already on their shelves.

 

Karen Argent

November 2025