The book concludes with the two families feasting together in the park. When the mothers found them, they hugged one another, and all agreed to meet again. (The author explains in a note that Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan occur at the same time roughly every thirty years.) Moe and Mo were happy to see each other, and immediately ran off to play together, with the mothers becoming frantic over their missing sons. Weeks later, each family was preparing for the holidays - the Feldmans for Rosh Hashanah and the Hassans for Ramadan, and each mother took her son to the same park to give the antsy boys a chance to dispel some of their energy. They also behaved similarly (much to the consternation of their watchful mothers). Show More looked so much alike they might be twins, or at least cousins. Leaving aside that error, I would highly recommend this one to anyone looking for stories about friendship across religious lines, as well as to those searching for picture-books set in Brooklyn, or featuring Rosh Hashanah and/or Ramadan. The only discordant note is the inclusion of the greeting "Eid Mubarak" in the text of the story, as this is a salutation used at Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, whereas the events here seems to occur at the beginning of the month. Recipes for the cookies made by both mothers are included at the rear, offering young readers the opportunity (together with their parents!) of sampling the treats mentioned in the story. In this way, text and image work together to emphasize the central theme of two tales becoming one. The illustrations alternate between a dual perspective, in which the two main characters' stories are depicted on the facing pages of a two-page spread, and a unified approach, in which their stories join, and are depicted together, across both the pages of a spread. The narrative encourages the reader to compare and contrast the two young boys - one Jewish, one Muslim - and to examine the ways that they differ, and more importantly, the many ways they are the same. Celebrating under the crescent moon, their families enjoy both Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan.Ī sweet story of cross-cultural and inter-faith friendship from prolific American children's author Jane Breskin Zalben is paired with gorgeous multimedia artwork from expat Iranian illustrator Mehrdokht Amini in A Moon for Moe and Mo. Meeting again in the park, they manage to frighten their mothers, leading to a friendship between the two women as well, and between their entire families.
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