Wind Says Good Night [Hardcover]

Katy Rydell (Author), David Jorgensen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

It's late at night, and the cheerful chatter of Moth, Frog, Cricket, and Mockingbird keeps a restless child awake. But the friendly wind and a cooperative cloud intervene to quiet all nighttime melodies and deliver a gentle "Good night."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First-time author Rydell offers up a pleasingly symmetrical, quietly playful bedtime story. In prose evocative of a summer's night, she describes what happens when one girl lies awake late at night, her ears filled with Mockingbird's song. When the wind fails to coax the child into slumber, it appeals to Mockingbird for silence. But the night bird can't help singing as long as music is coming from Cricket (shown in top hat and tails, playing a fiddle). Cricket, in turn, responds to the strumming of Frog ("lost in the beat, with a night full of rhythm in his hands and feet"), who is inspired by Moth's dancing under delicate moonshine. Through the wind's intervention, Moon stops shining, night creatures surrender to stillness one by one and the youngster drifts to sleep. Softly lit in subtle green tones, Jorgensen's colored-pencil drawings enliven the night music with jovial characters, including a mischievous, crater-pocked Moon. Gently beguiling. Ages 2-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-Although it is late, a young girl cannot fall asleep because the creatures outside her window are making too much noise. The night wind tries to quiet them, but it is only when it blows a cloud over the Earth and the moon stops shining that the moth stops dancing, the frog stops strumming his base fiddle, the cricket stops playing his violin, the mockingbird stops singing, and the child falls asleep. Youngsters will delight in the language of this story in which music spills from deep in a mockingbird's throat, a cricket's toes tap while his coattails flap, and a frog gets "lost in the beat, with a night full of rhythm in his hands and feet." Jorgensen's pencil drawings in soft night shades illumined only by the moon and some whimsical fireflies (alert readers will notice their lantern tails) depict fun-loving animals reluctant to end another day. This splendid bedtime story is perfect for a restless child, and its large pictures render it equally suitable for story time or classroom use. The cumulative narrative invites group participation. Use it with Daniel San Souci's North Country Night (Doubleday, 1990) to enrich the science curriculum.
Marianne Saccardi, Whitby School American Montessori Center, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (March 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395604745
• ISBN-13: 978-0395604748
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A SOOTHING BEDTIME TALE, April 3, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wind Says Good Night (Turtleback)

Granted, there are a plethora of bedtime stories available, but when someone asks for recommendations "Wind Says Good Night" is usually on my list.

Youngsters find much to enjoy as a chorus of frogs, moths, mockingbirds and crickets all whisper goodnight. The text has a comforting lilt, and the pastel drawings are both restful and amusing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully entertaining story, October 14, 2003

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wind Says Good Night (Paperback)

A little girl can't go to sleep, so the wind asks what he could do to help. And that is the flow of the story ~~ as nighttime winds down to the soft sigh of the wind.

There is a magical quality to this book ~~ one that keeps me reading in delight. (If I have to read these books to my kids, it better be enjoyable for me too!) The pictures are beautifully illustrated. I am now a David Jorgensen fan. And I really enjoy Katy Rydell's writing in this book. It's very musical and lyrical ~~ whimiscal too. It's a delightful book for my children to hear before they go to bed. And the pictures are a joy to behold.

This is one purchase we won't regret buying!

10-15-03

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite, and my daughter's favorite, for over two years!, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wind Says Good Night (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book for bedtime. One of my favorite aspects is that the text can very easily be paraphrased if needed- the reader can skip over the repeated lines and go right to the answer: "I can't stop shining unless there's a change in the weather." Then when your child is a little older, you can read the entire book as written. "The child", by the way, is never referred to as a girl or a boy, which is nice, so that boys and girls will be able to identify. I'm not sure I agree with the reviewer who said that this child is "restless"- the child simply can't sleep because a bird is singing outside the window, and so the story begins. This beautiful book makes a great gift!