From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K–As the day comes to an end, Mother Sky fills a tub with falling stars and calls, 'Bath time for Little Night!' But the child wants to play and urges her mother to come and find her. Mother does, and Little Night is bathed in what appears to be a mixture of bubbles and clouds. When it is time to dress for bed, again Little Night runs off to hide. And again Mother Sky finds her, and dresses her in a white dress crocheted from clouds. The same thing happens when it is time to eat. Little Night is depicted with a milk-white mustache after drinking stars from the Milky Way. Finally, Mother Sky untangles Little Night's hair with a shiny comb, and the child is ready to continue her play, bouncing the moon high into the air! Full-bleed spreads with luminous and rich hues of evening sky–blues, reds, and pinks–are painted in flowing sweeps of color, which illuminate and animate the glorious text. They are juxtaposed with the dark earth tones of cherubic Little Night and Mother Sky, and the effect is dreamlike and peaceful. A treasure for bedtime, or anytime.–
DeAnn Okamura, San Mateo County Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Mother Sky appears to be preparing a child, Little Night, for bedtime. The activities are familiar--the bath, the stalling, the snack--but in this fanciful tale, nighttime is really Little Night's playtime. Pura Belpre Award winner Morales has created a sumptuous feast of metaphors in her text: a bathtub filled with falling stars, a dress crocheted from clouds. The equally splendid illustrations effectively convey each of the images and heighten the comfort and serenity inspired by the text. The quietness is carefully balanced by rambunctious art, an amalgamation of shifting perspectives, pleasantly exaggerated forms, and rich jewel-tone colors and the characters are clearly defined and effectively placed in the sweeping forms that evoke the fantastical landscapes. The blues of the evening sky and the reds of the sunset blanket the double-page spreads, enveloping Little Night and her mother and making the metaphor entirely believable. Children will delight in Little Night's dreamy world and will want to read about her unique, yet still familiar, nighttime ritual again and again.
Randall EnosCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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