LUNA LOVES ART

A little girl’s class trip reaffirms her love of art.

Luna, who presents as a biracial Black girl with a Black-appearing father and White-appearing mother, is excited about her school trip to an art museum (called simply The Art Gallery in the text). Her mother is coming along as a chaperone to help her teacher, Miss Rosa (who appears Black), with the large, diverse group of children. One classmate, a little White boy named Finn, is withdrawn and sometimes unkind during the museum visit. Eventually, Luna’s enthusiasm for the art they’re seeing wins him over. While there’s lots to love about Lumbers’ joyful, vibrant illustrations, this friendship subplot and its attendant themes of interracial friendship and inclusivity are hamstrung by the book’s egregious lack of art by diverse artists. Of the 16 pieces highlighted on endpapers and interior pages set at the gallery, one is by the sole White woman referenced in the book, Louise Bourgeois, and one is by another woman who is also the sole artist of color represented, Yayoi Kusama. All other art that Luna and her class see is by White men. Just imagine how much more Luna (and by extension, readers) might love art if she were exposed to a broader range of creative points of view.

This book’s exclusive vision makes it hard to love.