The Wind on the Moon: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''"When there is wind on the moon, you must be very careful how you behave. Because if it is an ill wind, and you behave badly, it will blow straight into your heart, and then you will behave badly for a long time to come."''}}

 

 

Over the course of the year he is gone, the two sisters get into several increasingly surreal misadventures, such as overeating so much they [[Balloon Belly|turn into balloon-shaped blobs]], then crying so much at the [[Children Are Cruel|bullying the other children subject them to]] that they grow thin again, whereupon they are [[Crowning Moment of Funny|mistaken for match-sticks by a confused old lady.]] As revenge against the bullying children, they use a magic potion (given to Dinah by an old witch) [[Animorphism|to turn into kangaroos]] so they can [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|kick everyone around]]. However, they get [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock|stuck in kangaroo form]] and are caught and brought to a zoo. Here they have several small misadventures, befriend other animals, help solve a mystery, and eventually stage an escape. After returning to their normal human selves, they use the skills and knowledge they aquired as kangaroos (such as being able to [[Speaks Fluent Animal|talk to the animals]]) to free their beloved dance teacher from jail, and in the last, grandest adventure, travel to the far-off country of Bombardy, where their father has been imprisoned by the tyrannical Duke Hulagu Bloot.

''The Wind on the Moon'' is mostly a comedy with heavy overtones of fantasy, but the later part of the book contains several darker themes and at least one very powerful [[Tear Jerker]].

 

 

* [[Action Girl]]: Dinah and Dorinda.

* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: Discussed in-universe. The Golden Puma and Silver Falcon are predators, and despite being treated as sympathetic characters, they still talk and act like predators. Dinah and Dorinda are conflicted on this, feeling bad for the prey but realizing that the animals need to eat.

* [[Children Are Cruel]]: Invoked a number of times with both major and minor child characters.

* [[Evil Feels Good]]: Mild version, since Dinah and Dorinda are never actually ''evil,'' just naughty. However, an early segment in the story describes the thrill and glee they feel at the thought of being bad for an entire year. Later on [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] and [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] when the girls, after suffering the consequences of their misbehaving, find that the entire thing hasn't been nearly as much fun as they thought it would be. (Not that this actually stops them from misbehaving, they just decide to be smarter about it.)

* [[Humans Are Bastards]]: The animal characters, in their conversations, waiver back and forth between this and [[Humans Are Special]].

* [[Parental Neglect]]: Dinah and Dorinda's mother, who has been shown as a kindly, if long-suffering, parent, shows surprising traits of this when the girls are gone for ''weeks,'' and she barely notices. {{spoiler|This is explained by her having received a message that her husband has been taken prisoner by an evil dictator, but still... ''the girls were gone for weeks, and she didn't notice.''}}

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Dinah and Dorinda's entire reason for turning into kangaroos in the first place. Mild version, since they're not trying to ''seriously'' hurt anyone, just kick them around for a bit.

* [[Speaks Fluent Animal]]: Dinah and Dorinda, after their time as kangaroos, still remember how to talk to the animals.

* [[The Unseen]]: Mrs. Grimble, the witch. Though her magic drives much of the plot, she never actually appears on-page. Our only real exposure to her is through Dinah's descriptions and stories of her, as well as the letter she writes to the sisters in the last part of the book.