about

Once Upon A Time... A brother and sister, Lionel and Caroline, lived in a humble apartment in New York City with their hard-working parents. When Summer arrived, they were sent to their grandmother's house in the countryside to spend the month of July. Nearby, there was a quaint, little town square surrounded by a post office, a butcher, a bakery, a church, a restaurant, a gas station, a market, a clothing store and a candy shop. Lionel and Caroline looked forward every year to spending time with their grandmother because she was nice, kind, and understanding and always made yummy chocolate chip cookies. The television was old fashioned and had only five channels so they filled their days playing outside. When the weather was rainy, they made due with a noisy train set and some board games from the 1980's. A babbling brook in the big back yard was adventurous to play in and building forts along the pebble-filled paths was fun for a while but Lionel and Caroline found themselves bored with little to do.

During another rainy day, when their grandmother was taking a nap, Lionel and Caroline went up to the third floor where a hidden door led to a flight of stairs. At the top, another door, that creaked when opened, led them to a dusty attic. Hundreds of old photographs, musty clothes and furniture covered with sheets made for a spooky place for a treasure hunt. They searched around for sparkly jewelry and artificial flowers. In one of the corners sat a square, wooden box. Excited to discover its contents, the kids pushed and pulled it down the rickety steps and into their bedroom. After removing several nails, they pulled off the top. Inside they found large blocks of colorful clay. They dumped it all out onto a table and began to make their own creatures to play with. These strangely cute creatures became known as The Moonlighters!

As Summer at grandmother's house continued, Lionel and Caroline spent hours building little cave condos, magic mansions, flower fortresses, and cupid cottages for The Moonlighters.  Day after day, they'd spend endless hours constructing Moonlightland, a whole new world within their own, right under a big window.  When Moonlightland was complete, the siblings invited grandmother to the grand opening of their secret world.  A big bowl of water surrounded by garden rocks acted as a pond.  A hollowed out log with four wheels cruised around the lovely streets, where flashlight lamps disguised in mossy branches lit the way and allowed the Moonlighters to see where they were going in the dark.  In the morning, Caroline helped cook breakfast in the cuddly kitchen for the energized characters after a good night's rest.  

As their vacation was coming to an end, the kids noticed that their newly created companions were in completely different places and positions than the night before!  Grandmother didn't have a dog or cat, so everyone was astonished as to how they would have been misplaced.  It was a total mystery but no one would believe what really happened after the siblings fell sound asleep - The Moonlighters came to life!

Every night, after the children placed them down for the evening, the mischievous creatures magically stood up and climbed through the big window, overlooking the land below.  They'd jump out and swing onto a nearby weeping willow tree in the side yard.  After reaching the grass, they’d run to the town square with a meaningful purpose: to help people in need and sabotage potentially dangerous human situations… like the time the farmer's back hurt so much he couldn't climb the ladder to pick his quota of apples for the day. So, The Moonlighters snuck into the orchard, climbed the tree, and picked them for him, filling his bushels to the brim!  Or the time a cold homeless man had nothing to eat so The Moonlighters took a can of soup from the grandmother's pantry, rolled it into town and built a small campfire near his tent to warm it up for him to have something hot to eat when he woke up.  It took a few of them to do it and it was tricky using the can opener to open the round metal top but they did it!  Also the time a young woman lost her pocketbook with all her hard-earned money inside only to find it the next day on her bedside table.  The Moonlighters make miracles happen!  

As in real life, though, conflicts inevitably arise.  The big crows in the orchard swooped down and pecked the fearless Moonlighters collecting apples.  A rude raccoon tries to eat the soup and a bad boyfriend tries to take money from the pocketbook.  Conflict and quarrel pepper each story but The Moonlighters always find a solution!

One night, the brother and sister decided to spy on their clay creatures and caught a glimpse of what they were up to.  Amazed, they kept it a secret from their parents but told their grandmother, as she would be half-understanding, really the only one to believe them.  When it came time for Lionel and Caroline to return to the big city, they packed up Moonlightland and set it up in their bedroom in the family apartment.  They witnessed more amazing things The Moonlighters would do as nighttime fell and mornings awoke in the noisy metropolis.  Helping those in need and encountering evil, they fight to overcome disaster and achieve good deeds!