Just like the night, Midnight & Moon by Kelly Cooper and Daniel Miyares is a quiet story that sinks right into your bones.

Moon is a new foal who cannot see but he hears noises other horses often ignore like the sound of the pond freezing in the fall. He lives at Clara’s farm. She is a little girl who doesn’t speak but hears sounds other children and adults often ignore like the sound of the cat walking across the kitchen floor. Moon and Clara share a kinship, an unspoken understanding, each facing their own unique invisible disabilities. Moon has Midnight to guide him around the farm and the pasture. Clara has her mother and soon she has Jack, a new friend. 

Midnight & Moon is a moving story about the quiet. Kelly Cooper parallels Moon’s experiences with Clara’s and shows readers how to sit in the quiet, how to listen for the sounds many rarely hear. Those sounds may be the ones that eventually lead you home. In the story, Kelly Cooper chooses a friend for Clara, Jack, who plays with her even though she doesn’t say anything, spelling her name for him when they first meet. Showing young readers compassionate friendships teaches them that it’s okay to communicate in ways beyond the spoken word. Midnight & Moon communicate in subtle ways as well. A nudge here and a whinny there.

The illustrations by Daniel Miyares are magical. The complementary blue and orange colour palette is welcoming to the eyes and draws the reader into the story. The whimsical, breezy illustrations are captivating both close up and from far away making Midnight & Moon an excellent choice for a read aloud.