Max discovers the moon is a constant companion on the drive home from his Granpa's house. "The long ride home was swervy-curvy. This way and that, all the way. And the moon seemed to tag along." Wonderful word choice chronicles Max's journey home with the moon overhead, until "Dark clouds tumbled across the night sky." The moon his Granpa said would always shine for him has disappeared. But as he's falling asleep, the clouds fade and the moon returns. Floyd Cooper captures the magic of the moon and a grandparent to a small child in this picture book about a young African American boy. Cooper's hallmark illustration style is especially adept at reflecting the wonder of moonlit landscapes. Highly Commended, 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3-6)

Has the moon ever followed you home at night?

Max loves his grandpa. When they must say good-bye after a visit, Grandpa reminds Max that the moon above them at Grandpa’s house is the same moon that will follow him all the way home. And on that swervy-curvy car ride back home Max smiles as the moon tags along, thinking of Grandpa. But when the sky darkens and the moon disappears behind clouds, Max worries that it did not follow him home after all. Yet when the clouds part and light streams through his window, he realizes that Grandpa was right—the moon was with him all along.

Floyd Cooper received the Coretta Scott King Award for The Blacker the Berry, two Coretta Scott King Honors for Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land, and an NAACP image award. His books have also been named to numerous best books list and been given many Parents Choice Awards.  In Max and the Tag-Along Moon, his lush paintings perfectly capture the wonder of the moon, the love between grandfather and grandson, and that feeling of magic every child experiences when the moon follows him home.