Book Review: Orange Moon and the Grandmother Tree

How exciting, this is one of my favorite author/illustrators with an amazingly beautiful and insightful story of Orange Moon with the magic of nature at her fingertips and a heart full of wonder and joy! 


Rich hues of orange-red with a hint of umber contrast with brilliant wildflowers of summer, to set the stage for a vibrant story that warmed my heart and imagination!

At bedtime I sat down to read Orange Moon and the Grandmother Tree. 
Elloise, otherwise known as Orange Moon loves to play outside anytime of the year, but especially summer.  Reading the story aloud to myself brought to life the healing power of love.  

Orange Moon (Elloise) shares her love and joy with a new friend.  She has experienced grief and empathizes easily with the loss her friend feels. So Orange Moon shares what she compassionately believes to be true and gratefully celebrates this with her Grandmother Tree and her new friend too.

Gently Orange Moon models how to open our hearts warmly with love to discover more about nature, our relationships and our selves.

I noticed myself pausing to gaze at the beautiful pictures. As I reflected, they reminded me of my own childhood innocence spent in natural spaces relaxing and playing during timeless days. 

I realized the power of these beautiful pictures can invite a young child also to pause and gaze at the nature surrounding Orange Moon. The pictures can invite the readers to talk and warmly open our own hearts to share just like Orange Moon.

This story eloquently expresses the healing potential of seeking out nature and noticing how infinitely connected we all are to each other and everything on our world.

This book is a treasure, a keeper, and one that will enrich a very young child as a picture book and last right through the school age years!

The story can enrich our adult lives too, as Orange Moon encourages all of us to open our hearts, to notice the beauty and healing potential within nature! There is a lifetime of wisdom to discover within this story, to grow with your child and within us adults too.


The morning after reading Orange Moon, the sunlight shone a little brighter as it melted the snow in my backyard. The warm winds that night had blown the coldest winter chill away.

The sunlight barely enters my kitchen and only in the winter. So on this warmer day, I opened the kitchen door and encouraged my cat Lila to it lay upon a chair in the sunshine. I sat in the sunshine too and together we absorbed the brilliant and warm solar energy for a half hour before it slipped behind a cloud.

During this quiet sit, I realized that Orange Moon was with me too at that moment.  With my eyes closed, face tilted into the sunshine, I could see the soothing colorful hues of orange and red with a hint of umber. In this warm space, I too reflected on the teachings of Orange Moon.

In the afternoon, the sun returned and so I drove up to higher hills to go for a walk, just so I could linger in the sun and stretch the daylight a little longer. 

Marghanita Hughes is such a talented Storyteller, Illustrator, and Photographer!  She is truly able to spark a child’s sense of wonder or with the active child within your adult heart!

Orange Moon is part of a book series based upon a child’s wonder of the natural world. 

So the fun will continue!

To purchase this Ebook or illustrations 
and view other products visit 
  Orangemoontribe.com

*Choose some crafts at the end of the story to inspire 

your play outdoors and notice the magic and wonder in nature!

Educators, Counsellors etc. would also 
appreciate this book as an excellent therapeutic tool 
for discussion of death/dying.

As well, Marghanita Hughes is the award winning creator of, 

“The Little Humbugs”.

She is also Founder of the non-profit organization, 

Let’s Go Outside 

whose mission is; to inspire to change the way children spend their time.

As Marghanita Hughes states,

“ We Are Nature - We Are All Connected!”

www.marghanita.com