Everywhere they looked, horseshoe crabs crowded and pushed, like restless cobblestones. Under the sandy shuffle of the surf, he could hear the clack of the crabs' shielded backs bumping and scraping together.
One night in June, Daniel sees the extraordinary sight of hundreds of horseshoe crabs spawning on the beach — just as they have for 350 million years.
In the morning, Daniel returns to find a lone crab, marooned in the sand. Can he save it? I based this 2000 picture book on email messages from my Aunt Susan, in which she described the wonder of witnessing horseshoe crabs gathering on the beach near her house on Long Island. I have been honored by the book’s reception, especially by teachers. The National Science Teachers Association named it an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children. Lynn Dorfman included Crab Moon in her book, Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature. And I am especially grateful for Kate Kiesler's luminous oil painting illustrations. When I wrote Crab Moon, I was living in Vermont, hundreds of miles from the ocean. I never imagined that I would one day move to Rhode Island, where I can now see horseshoe crabs convening on the beach just steps away from my front door. |
What critics say about Outstanding Science Horowitz's poetic descriptions are buried throughout the text as smooth as sea glass.
To learn more about horseshoe crabs, click on the picture. |
