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''[[The Wind on the Moon]]'' is a 1944 Carnegie-winning children's novel by British author Eric Linklater. It tells of Dinah and Dorinda, the young daughters of a British officer who live in the town of Midmeddlecum. When their father leaves for war, he warns his daughters to behave with the above quote, [[What an Idiot!|thereby unintentionally giving them what they feel is the perfect excuse to misbehave as much as they want.]]
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
''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]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Girl]]: Dinah and Dorinda.
* [[Agent Scully]]: Mr Parker. He's a human who's been turned into a giraffe, so you think he'd be open to the idea of magic and
* [[Animal Talk]]: All animals can understand one another instinctively, though they don't understand humans.
* [[Animorphism]]: Dinah and Dorinda, on-screen, thanks to Mrs. Grimble's magic potion. Part of Mr. Parker's backstory, though we never get a clear answer (beyond some speculation) as to just why he turned into a giraffe.
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* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Mr Corvo, the dance teacher. Maybe not so much a moron, but he's a mild-mannered man who teacher music and dance, and it comes as a genuine shock when he proves to be a warrior and swordsman. He even carries a cane that conceals a rapier!
* [[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
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: The Silver Falcon. He's arrogant and callous, but an affectionate friend to the Golden Puma, and later on to Dinah and Dorinda.
** Dinah and Dorinda also have traces of this; they misbehave for fun, but they are ultimately kind and helpful. They also suffer so much for their bad deeds that [[Jerkass Woobie|it's hard not to feel sorry for them.]]
* [[Magic Pants]]: Averted when Dinah and Dorinda turn into
* [[Motor Mouth]]: Miss Serendip, the governess, who can't say a single sentence without inserting all kinds of trivia.
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* [[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.
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{{Carnegie Medal}}
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[[Category:Children's Literature]]
[[Category:The Forties]]
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