Beginning on front endpapers, a wheel of cheese rolls from a wagon, down a hill, and onto . . . Mr. Squirrel's tree! Thinking this is the moon and it has been stolen, Mr. Squirrel fears he will be accused and sent to jail! A hedgehog and billy goat—in cumulative tale style—attempt to help to dispose of the evidence, then mice devour the cheese except for a sliver. All of the animals pull together to fling it away, and they assume success when they see a quarter moon in the sky. Soft pencil drawings and spreads of Mr. Squirrel imagining himself in a cell along with a human prisoner add to the humor.

2016 ALSC Notable Children's Books, 2016 USBBY Outstanding International Books.

Author/illustrator lives in Germany.

German. Originally published in German as Herr Eichhorn und der Mond by Esslinger Verlag in 2008. English translation by David Henry Wilson published in the United States by NorthSouth Books, an imprint of Nord-Süd Verlag AG in 2015.

Winter 2015 Top Ten IndieNext Pick

When Mr. Squirrel awakens to find that the moon has landed on his tree, he frantically tries to get rid of it before someone suspects him of stealing it and puts him in jail. But when he rolls the moon off of his tree, it's gets stuck on Mrs. Hedgehog's bristles and when the billy-goat arrives and butts it with his horns . . . Will the moon ever be the same again? Sebastian Meschenmoser's hilarious illustrations and rollicking tale will be a bedtime favorite.