Review by New York Times Review
MYSTERY is made at night. A daytime meeting pushed past sunset becomes an assignation. A tourist wandering the streets past dusk is a stalker, and a vehicle idling outside one's window in the wee hours is up to no good, but come afternoon is probably U.P.S. It's no wonder that literature finds it easier to probe the darkness in man's soul when it's dark outside, as the rejected titles "The Arabian Midmornings" or "Tender Is 2:30 P.M." attest. Children's literature has followed suit, often most wondrously in picture books, which have to walk a trickier line at night. Whereas Peter Straub has the perfect right to keep us up after dark with his intrigues, nighttime picture books have the requirement of being soporific. This fall season brings a handful of picture books set sometime after cocktail hour, when they are most likely to be read, and offer a good night's sleep, some oddball dreams and the makings of a new classic. (If you just want to hear about the classic, you can do what I often do when reading to children - skip to the end.) Malcolm surprised on his way out, in "It's a Secret!" It is difficult to praise "A Book of Sleep," by Il Sung Na, without sounding as if I'm knocking it: "the literary equivalent of Tylenol PM" is an unlikely blurb for the paperback, but it is apt, so thoroughly does the book inhabit its sleepy world. "When the sky grows dark and the moon glows bright," it begins, "everyone goes to sleep," and an ellipsis leads us across the page to the exception - the wide-eyed, homemade-looking figure of "the watchful owl," backlighted by the full moon. Our silent hero stays up to guide us through a sleeping animal kingdom. The art moves easily from the actual (horses sleeping standing up) to the fantastical (giraffes resting their elevated heads on clouds) in a blurry variety of textures and styles - from stark, clean sketch lines to a cavalcade of splotchy color - that might sound overbusy but work very well on the page. An endnote explains this multifaceted approach as "combining handmade painterly textures with digitally generated layers, which were then compiled in Adobe Photoshop," which I take to mean that it's none of my business how Na does it. By my second read-through I found myself yawning, so this book deserves a cozy place on the shelf for reading to children at 7 p.m., or, in the case of other people's children, 4:30. Of course, it rarely takes a single book to put a child to sleep. The bedtime ritual can often feel like the plot of "Not Last Night but the Night Before," the new picture book by Colin McNaughton, in which the characters of familiar children's literature - the three little pigs, the three blind mice - all drop in on the nameless and bewildered narrator. The effortless rhymes ("I came downstairs to let them in; they knocked me down like a bowling pin") maintain a manic tone, as do Emma Chichester Clark's pencil and acrylic drawings, which come to a rolling stop at the line between being inspired by Maurice Sendak and ripping him off. By the final spread (spoiler alert: birthday party), the book is crowded with color and noise; despite the closing line "I went to bed and I fell asleep!" the book is a roaring good time rather than a quiet night in; fun for the whole family, except whoever has to clean up. And then there's John Burningham and his new book, "It's a Secret!" Expecting a classic from Burningham is like expecting one from Beethoven - he's already given us plenty - but with "It's a Secret!" he outdoes even "Mr. Gumpy's Outing," and I will pause for a moment while you go read that and then gasp at my scandalous assertion. Marie Elaine is told by her mother that the family cat, Malcolm, just goes "outside somewhere" at night, but then the girl runs into the cat on his way out, "all dressed up in fancy clothes and a hat." The text pauses as Malcolm stares out at us, caught by surprise, before he allows Marie Elaine to go with him, as long as she'll dress up too and "get small." From there, the book is everything you want in a journey - a familiar face, a grave danger, tricky maneuvers, elegant delectables, some trail marks so you know you can find your way home and, yes, a wonderful secret, which like all good secrets points to more secrets and the big, dark secret world in which we live. "It's a Secret!" is a perfect night, one that knows when to give a party and when to stay silent - the wordless spread of Malcolm leading his friends down a high-swinging cable leaves one breathless - and Burningham, in plot and in painting, knows when to color in the lines and when to leave them stark and empty. In the morning, Marie Elaine is lounging on the same sofa where Malcolm sleeps all day, and our heroine is exhausted - there's the sly soporific effect - but in possession of the delicious knowledge of the wonderful title. It is the real world of night, the one that may begin in the literature we read before turning in, but that really flourishes when the lights are off and the mystery unravels. Good night, young and old. Personal to Mr. Burningham: I'll meet you you-knowwhere. Daniel Handler is the author of three novels for adults and far too many books as Lemony Snicket.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 6, 2009]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* First published in England under the title ZZzzz: A Book of Sleep (2007), Na's wonderfully illustrated debut is one of those bedtime books that children will likely turn to again and again. The text is spare but informative, and soothing in its rhythms: When the sky grows dark / and the moon glows bright / everyone goes to sleep . . . except for the watchful owl. In the double-page spreads that follow, Na presents a variety of animals at rest ( Some sleep peacefully alone, / While others sleep all together, huddled close at night ). However they sleep, these animals are always being observed by that watchful owl, and children will enjoy finding him tucked between two huddling penguins or perched on the branch of a distant tree. There's no way to miss him when he comes face-to-face with a fish whose eyes are open when asleep; their close-ups, in profile, make them seem startled to see each other and showcase Na's playful use of texture, color, and unlikely patterns. The striking deep-blue of Na's nighttime gives way to bright sun at the end of the book, and finally the tired owl gets his turn to sleep.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"When the sky grows dark and the moon glows bright, everyone goes to sleep... except for the watchful owl." The sleep habits of the delicate creatures in Na's debut ("Some sleep standing up, While some sleep on the move!") seem almost incidental to the soothing, captivating aura that emanates from every spread. Na's textural images recall the lightheartedness and limpid charm of Paul Klee. Against nighttime fields of gray and blue, the animals are tinted with hot pinks and sunny yellows, and embellished with delicate black outlines, fine flowers and other flourishes. There are moments of quiet humor-a flock of oblong birds warily napping with one eye open on a telephone wire-as well as those that emphasize contented sleep (giraffes' heads rest on clouds overhead, while penguins "sleep all together, huddled close at night"). It's the rare picture book that, upon arrival, feels as though it has been around for years already; Na's belongs to this group. Ages 1-5. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-This starry wonderland soothes young listeners through succinct phrasing and powerful pacing. Though they may all sleep differently, animals, birds, and fish rest when the sun sets, except for the observant owl. The lilting narrative describes the dozing patterns of numerous inhabitants against the dark night backdrop as the owl watches nearby. Each vibrant spread features no more than one stark sentence for each dreamy scene. "Some sleep peacefully alone,/While others sleep all together,/huddled close at night." With the morning sunlight, the rested creatures now eagerly play, though it is finally the owl's turn for slumber. Handmade painterly textures utilize digitally generated layers, compiled in Adobe Photoshop, to depict the subtle details on each darkened page. Nimble lines influence the gentle mood through spotted colors and shaded images, balancing darkness and light to depict the passing of time. Dreams, enhanced through slight white outlines, provide an unusual nuance to this delightful tale. This refreshing glimpse into the whimsical world of sleep truly soars.-Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
