A breathtakingly illustrated story about shyness, the power of empathy, and what it means to make a friend ― ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH! “Evokes a richly mysterious night; a night in which dreams could come true.”  ―The New York Times Willow is shy. VERY shy.  Her home is in an abandoned mailbox, and she'd rather stay put. Outside kids scream and soccer balls collide, trees look like monsters, and rain is noisy in a scary kind of way. It's much nicer to stay inside, drawing. But then a young boy drops a letter in Willow's mailbox: it's a note to the moon asking for a special favor. Willow knows that if she doesn't brave the world outside, the letter will never be delivered, and the boy will be heartbroken. Should she try? Can she?  P R A I S E “A memorable and moving read. A lovely mix of realistic and fantastical.”  ― BookPage ★ “A dreamlike adventure…A warm and wondrous adventure for armchair, or high chair, travelers.”  ― Booklist (starred) “Luminous...an earnest tale of bravery begetting self-realization.”  ― Publishers Weekly BEST OF THE YEAR BookPage PreS-K-Willow, a white rabbit, lives in an abandoned mailbox where she draws sketches and feels safe from the world. When a letter drops in the mailbox with a special birthday request addressed to the moon from a boy named Theo, Willow knows she must deliver it in spite of her fears. Willow ventures out, testing her courage and making many failed attempts to reach the moon, jumping high, climbing a mountain, and even hitching a ride on a bird. Finally, she sacrifices pages from her sketchbook to fashion a balloon to float up to the moon and successfully deliver the letter. The moon rewards her by fulfilling the request to shine brilliantly for Theo's mother. Willow basks in her deed, and "the warmth of the moonlight spread through Willow's chest." Pencil illustrations provide detail, while soft washes of watercolor in twilight colors of pink, blue, and lavender create a soothing palette, though the outline of Willow in red strikes an odd note. Sketches from Willow's notebook adorn the endpapers and provide a window into Willow's fears and newfound friendship with Theo. VERDICT A shy rabbit shows bravery and ingenuity in a story that addresses shyness and determination. An additional purchase.-Ramarie Beaver, formerly at Plano P.L., TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. "“A visually satisfying sequence of art that perfectly facilitates this tale for repeated read-alouds with mom.”―The Classroom Bookshelf (An SLJ Blog), " "“Luminous...an earnest tale of bravery begetting self-realization.” ―Publishers Weekly, " "“Splendid....A lovable protagonist” ―Horn Book, " "[STAR] “A dreamlike adventure…A warm and wondrous adventure for armchair, or high chair, travelers.” ―Booklist (starred review), " "“A memorable and moving read. A lovely mix of realistic and fantastical.” ―BookPage, " "“Evokes a richly mysterious night; a night in which dreams could come true.” ―The New York Times, " Cat Min is an illustrator, animator, and writer. Cat grew up as a shy kid in Hong Kong, where she spent most of her childhood drawing and making comic books out of printer paper and staples with her best friend. She studied animation and film at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and completed the Illustration & Visual Storytelling Summer Residency Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is also a member of SCBWI. Her (not so) guilty pleasures are: McDonald's french fries, sappy romance comics, mobile escape game apps, visual novels, and all things cheese.