Whimsical And Weird

• Date: 09.02.2009
• Book: The man in the moon is talking
• Author: plappen

Review

The Man in the Moon is Talking, Clay Orb, Warwick Press, 1946


Narrated by The Man in the Moon (and you thought he was a myth), this tells the real story of how the Earth was formed, and asserts that mankind did not evolve from apes, but from Little People, humans that were only 18 inches high. There is fossil evidence of early horses that were only 18 inches high, so maybe the same thing happened to humans.

Speaking the Language of Light, which is spoken by planets all over the galaxy, and which is received by the Whimsical Lens, the Man in the Moon tells the story of the Little People, who lived in the Tropics. Fish and game were plentiful, and so were carnivores; their numbers had been shrinking for a long time. Granny, the matriarch, is about 90 years old; everyone else is in their teens, or younger. Raa, the oldest male, and soon to be leader, realizes that intelligence is their key to survival. Tee, the second oldest female, and Raa’s mate, won’t let him forget about things like beauty. As time goes on, the group discovers the making of clay pottery. They start capturing and domesticating animals. They build a cage for their small animals, and hoist it in the air each night, to keep the animals away from carnivores. They also dig a deep trench around the tree from which the animals are suspended, which captures several animals.

The narrator also looks at the history of the Earth. The first cell was lonesome, until it found another cell, and they thought it might be a good idea to stick together. They ran into a few more cells, and, eventually, they became a worm. Mr. and Mrs. Worm lived happily, until Mr. Worm decided that he wanted a brain, so he went and got one. Mrs. Worm didn’t have one, so Mr. Worm enjoyed lording his new status over Mrs. Worm, until their first batch of babies were born. Each of the children had a small brain, which, collectively, was larger than Mr. Worm’s brain. The Winds have a don’t-care attitude. They range from the four main winds, to Hurricane, a gruff, old giant who comes out only a few months per year, but causes a lot of trouble. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have been having a feud since time immemorial. Atlantic was under the impression that it was going to be the largest ocean, and has been unwilling to accept its new second class status.

As you may have guessed, this is a children’s/young adult book, and it is excellent. It’s whimsical, it’s weird, and it will even get adults thinking.