Description: As the moon waxes and wanes, her cycles set a pattern of life for those who live beneath her silver glow. For the Northern Algonquians in precolonial America, these rhythms served to measure out the year.

January's Hard Times Moon means biting winds and long nights, and February's moon brings the big snow. Now animals and people alike search for food; the land is locked in a deep, icy cold. But by the April and May moons, one can fish at night by torchlight and leave the wigwam door open to the rising sun in the east. Soon the summer moons of planting and ripening will guide the daily work of the tribe. Then come the fertile autumn moons of harvesting to ready the people for yet another hard winter.

In graceful prose and stunning scratchboard illustrations, Michael McCurdy follows the important path the moon made in Algonquian lives. He brings to life the seasonal cycles of work, play, and survival -- a busy and fulfilling year punctuated by the beauty of the full moon.

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