newbery honor author 

new york times bestseller

Gennifer Choldenko
Gennifer Choldenko
Moonstruck The True Story of the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon

Buy the Book 

Moonstruck

writ­ten by Gen­nifer Chold­enko
illus­trat­ed by Paul Yalowitz
all ages
Hype­r­i­on, 1997, ISBN 978–0‑7868–2130‑3

Synopsis

Once upon a time only hors­es jumped over the moon—until one day when a curi­ous cow stops graz­ing, starts gaz­ing, and then decides to try this incred­i­ble jump herself!

The hors­es laugh at first; after all, cows aren’t meant to vault. But when this moon­struck cow refus­es to give up, they end their neigh-say­ing and start to won­der if a high-hur­dling cow might be the first of her species to achieve her lofty goal. This illu­mi­nat­ing spin on the favorite Moth­er Goose nurs­ery rhyme is both a fan­ci­ful bed­time read-aloud and an inspi­ra­tional sto­ry about the hard work and deter­mi­na­tion of a spir­it­ed cow with her eyes on the stars.

Behind the Book

Although I wrote Moon­struck: The True Sto­ry of the Cow Who Jumped the Moon 13 years before I won the New­bery Hon­or for Al Capone Does My Shirts, I do believe Moon­struck is my most auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal work.

I am the cow no one thought would ever amount to anything.

When Al Capone won the New­bery Hon­or, I real­ly did feel I jumped the moon.

Awards and Recognition

  • Nation­al Par­ent­ing Asso­ci­a­tion Seal

  • New York Library Best 100 Books for Read­ing and Sharing

  • Scholas­tic Book Club

  • Junior Library Guild

  • Cuya­hoga Coun­ty Library Best Chil­dren’s Books

  • Indi­ana Hoosier Award

Reviews

“Once upon a time it was hors­es that jumped over the moon. At least, that’s the premise of this fun­ny sto­ry.” (New York Times)

“This hys­ter­i­cal and irrev­er­ent book will have you and your chil­dren in stitch­es.” (Nation­al Par­ent­ing Center)

““A very fun­ny sto­ry … full of humor­ous details.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Frac­tured and fun­ny … a fun read-aloud and a trib­ute to hard work.” (Book­list)

“Hilar­i­ous.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“A gig­gle from begin­ning to end.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)

Reader Illustrations

cow, Daniela Ramirez, Kettering Elementary School
Daniela Ramirez,
Ket­ter­ing Ele­men­tary School
cow, Shelly Morgan, Cubberley Elementary School
Shelly Mor­gan,
Cub­ber­ley Ele­men­tary School