The Moon Seed (ages 4-8), a beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated picture book with a surprise twist, is about the imagined life of a seed who experiences – literally – an out-of-the-world experience. Tucked into a pouch, the winged seed follows the crew of eight astronauts on their Apollo 14 mission to the moon. While in space, the seed sees something so beautiful that it is stopped still. The seed is transfixed by the sight, and forever transformed. Even after the seed returns safely to earth and is buried in soil, sleeping by day and growing by night to become towering Tree, it yearns to return to the moon, to view that life-changing vision once more. Tree sleeps by day and grows by night, hoping, night after night, that it will grow tall enough to someday reach the luminous orb in the sky. But as the seasons pass, and Tree becomes a refuge, then a home, to various forest creatures, it begins to lose hope of ever making another trip into space. Squirrel, a resident in Tree’s hollow, awakens in the night. Moved by the reason for Tree’s sadness, Squirrel suggests that perhaps, Tree should instead, stay up during the day to witness the beauty of the world. Tree does … and together with Tree and it’s forest friends, we readers experience the warmth and joy of the unexpected “Ah Ha!” moment at the end of the story. Created by Scottish writer and illustrator, Sally Anne Garland, this picture book reminds us that we all have the innate ability to care for each other, and that sometimes, what we most long for is right there before our very eyes.