The twilight library

PreS-Gr 2--Oliver and Lora have created an homage to the ability of words to paint pictures in the imagination more powerful than anything the real world holds. Soft pastels indicating a forest setting just after sunset open this story. A voice is beckoning the creatures of the night, from bats and voles to nighthawks, crawler, and beetles. "Come, come, come, my friends, let me spin, spin you a story," says a spider, and although children may have guessed the owner of the voice, they will not be prepared for the bookshelves spun into a glistening web in the gloaming. The insects and animals are somewhat realistic, with humanoid faces. Occasional fanciful touches, such as antennae on the faces, are included in this imaginary realm. The Night Librarian spins from mere words wonderful pictures that the listeners can see (and which the illustrator majestically recreates across page after page) until it is time for parents to usher their sleepy children home for bedtime, for it's almost sunrise. The story passes as dreams do--wisps are remembered, but far more is forgotten. VERDICT In a glorious nighttime world that is the opposite of what most diurnal human children know, this book is really just an excuse to show off storytelling and see just how far the author and illustrator can take it. Not essential, but lovely.--Kimberly Olson Fakih

When night falls, the creatures of the night gather to hear stories. Crawlers, beetles, voles, mice, bats, nighthawks, they come. "Fireflies light the way. The north wind blows, branches sway and part…the twilight library stirs to life. Critters gather round in a circle while…the Night Librarian descends on silver strings and unravels the story threads." What follows certainly tickles each of the senses with talk of "indigo mountaintops," "tangy berries," "whisker kisses," "wispy wood smoke," "the song of cicadas." But after this sumptuous scene is set, readers are jolted abruptly out of the book as the spider "weaves the final scene…of feasting, of dancing, of daring that saves the day…." After all the sensory setup, that's all readers get of the tale the Night Librarian actually tells. Meanwhile, the listeners are enraptured, emerging from the threads of the story only when dawn arrives to send them to their individual dreams. Soft dreamlike colors suffuse the scenes, the twilight library depicted charmingly as books suspended on the threads of a spiderweb. The animals sport golden crowns when their imaginations make them part of the story being woven; aside from the beetles sitting like humans and the unrealistic gathering of these disparate (sometimes predator-prey) animals, they are not anthropomorphized. A few of the scenes are so hazy that readers may have difficulty parsing them. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A charming idea that misses in the execution. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.