Welcome to Moonbow!

A newsletter about children's books

Welcome to Moonbow! This introductory newsletter will hopefully answer two questions you’re likely asking yourself:

1. What the heck is a moonbow?

2. What can I expect from this newsletter?

I’ll start with the more straightforward question: What is a moonbow? A moonbow (also called a lunar rainbow) is a rainbow that can only be seen at night. Moonbows are rare optical phenomena that occur when moonlight is reflected and refracted off water droplets in the air. Because these rainbows are formed by the light of the moon, they’re fainter and harder to spot than the rainbows formed by sunlight. So cool!

As for what you can expect from this newsletter, that’s more mysterious than a moonbow (although I hope not as rare). The subtitle says it’s a newsletter about children’s books — that’s true. But I hope it will be more than just book recommendations. I plan to highlight some of my favorite children’s book authors, illustrators, and poets. Think of this newsletter as a form of mixed media with a collection of audio snippets, imagery, videos, poems, and articles.

So what do moonbows have to do with a children’s book newsletter (a question you probably haven’t asked yourself but that I’m going to answer anyway)? Nothing. They have nothing to do with each other. But I’ve found a few ways to tie them together. Honestly, it’s probably not a smart title. It’s certainly not going to attract the children’s book audience on Google. But I’ve never prioritized optimization. Despite its esotericism, I was drawn to the word “moonbow” for many reasons. One is that for over a year now, I’ve shared beautiful picture books on my Instagram that have full moons in them (again, esoteric!). And two, I’m a fan of Cooper Edens’s picture book, If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow (1979). Like Open House for Butterflies written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1960), Edens shares playful, non-sensical advice for getting through tough times. But that’s where the similarities end. In my opinion, Open House for Butterflies is a far superior book and one of my all-time favorite picture books (I’ll share more about this book in a future newsletter). Still, I appreciate Edens’s gorgeous illustrations and existential absurdism. The vibrant artwork — which combines impressionist and surrealist elements (think Claude Monet mixed with Harue Koga) — acknowledges art’s paradoxical nature. It attempts to resolve the absurd and the logical, dreams and reality — which are often contradictory. Edens is challenging the status quo, and in his bizarre dreamlike world, he’s encouraging readers to be open to new ways of seeing. Lines like, “If you find your socks don’t match…stand in a flower bed,” and “If there is no happy ending…make one out of cookie dough” are delightfully ludicrous. This advice feels especially pertinent now when our realities have become increasingly unrecognizable and uncertain — but we can imagine the night rainbow and find comfort in the unknown. 

“If tomorrow morning the sky falls…have clouds for breakfast.” If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow by Cooper Edens (1979)

The most meaningful (and loftiest) reason I’m attracted to the word is that both moonbows and children’s literature ask us to believe in something bigger than ourselves. We know moonbows are real, but if we’ve never seen one with our own eyes, we’re left to imagine what it would be like to experience one firsthand. And even those who’ve witnessed a moonbow tend to describe it differently based on their individual perspectives. Similarly, children’s fictional stories are like optical illusions. They have the ability to alter our perception of ourselves and the world around us.

This newsletter will celebrate the magic of children’s literature, but not in the way you might expect. I don’t believe stories should be a place for morals and teaching children how to be upstanding citizens, and I apply that same belief to the artists who create them (within reason). I plan to focus on children’s literature as an art form, which means they won’t all be crowdpleasers. This is a newsletter about children’s books for adults. Of course, I hope you’ll share this art with children, but I leave that decision to you. 

🌝 🌈

Taylor Sterling

“If the clock stops…use your own hands to tell time.” If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow by Cooper Edens (1979)

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Editor’s note:

I’ve worked with a copy editor for the past ten years to assist me with my grammatical shortcomings and inevitable typos. I’m the only editor of this newsletter, so I apologize if there are mistakes. It’s one of the reasons I find newsletters so terrifying.

If you’re excited about Moonbow, the best way you can support me is by sharing the newsletter. Thank you!

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Moonbow Companions:

• Shop my book recommendations at Bookshop.org: an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. You can shop my book lists here.

• Become a member (it’s free!) of Internet Archive: a non-profit digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, they provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. You can view and listen to If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow for free.

• Check out my book suggestions from your local library!

• Shop independent bookstores in-person and online. You can shop my favorite local children’s book shop: Hicklebee’s!

• Make sure to add this email (moonbowbooks@substack.com) to your email contacts so that these newsletters don't land in your spam folder. I don’t have a schedule yet, so you’ll have to keep an eye out.

• Follow me, @TaylorSterling, on Instagram, and visit my website taylor-sterling.com for updates.

• Download the Substack app.

The first image is from Hugh’s Hues by Cooper Edens (1988)