When the moon turns to bubblegum and falls from the sky, it sticks in the speaker's hair, sweet, impossible, and refusing to let go. BUBBLEGUM MOON is a poetry collection for elementary readers (grades 4-6). Illustrated by Jessica Rigsbee.
The collection explores growing up through surreal imagery, African and African American folklore, and the bewildering moments when childhood starts to peel away. In the title poems, a sticky pink moon creates hilarious chaos and quiet wonder. "Anansi" and "The Tale of Brer Rabbit" ground the collection in trickster wisdom, while "Baby Shoes" confronts the fear of outgrowing who you are. Rigsbee's illustrations capture both the whimsy and the weight, bubblegum moons, folklore creatures,
and the ordinary moments that turn strange when you're no longer quite a child.
