Night Boy

by Anne Laurel Carter Narrated by Iambik Productions

Overview

Night is a boy who knows it's much more fun to play than go to sleep. When the sun sets, he travels through the night sky in a spaceship with his teddy. Night's favorite game is hide-and-go-seek, which he plays each evening with his older sister, Day. But why can't he ever find her?
Night Boy is a unique playful picturebook about a brother and a sister named Night and Day. The rhythmic text and rich illustrations make for a bedtime story that is sure to lull children who say "I can't sleep" into dreamland. Through the personas of a brother and sister, Night Boy offers a unique explanation of how night turns to day astronomically.

Editorial Reviews

Tacoma School District #10

"A very cute story that is interspersed with outer space facts."

Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group

"An interesting book that introduces the concept of night turning into day...The lyrical story has a wonderful vocabulary that imparts information in a unique way. The illustrations by Ninon Pelletier are outstanding and are a great visual aid to the concepts presented."

Resource Links

"Told in rhyming verse, the rhythm is jaunty and the language is imaginative. Fun as a read-aloud, this book could also be used to introduce astronomy to young students."

Quill & Quire

"Carter uses bouncy rhyming verse to tell the tale of a nightly game of hide-and-seek between Princess Day and her little brother, Prince Night...Pelletier's illustrations feature rich colours, exaggerated, cartoon-like characters, and sweet whimsical details...A great choice for bedtime-averse kids and for aspiring stargazers. Many galactic favourites make an appearance, including the Orion and Pegasus constellations, the aurora borealis, and the North Star, providing a jumping-off point for discussions of basic astronomy. The story ends gently, as the best bedtime stories do, with the promise of another game tomorrow."

Montreal Review of Books

"What better story to tell at bedtime than one that ends with a young child tucked cozily between the covers, fast

asleep?...Pelletier uses rich shades of deep blue to depict the night sky filled with glimmering stars and there are some interesting opportunities here for parents to introduce their children to facts about the celestial skies."

CM Magazine

"There is an unmistakable magic to this story. It's a book full of big ideas, wrapped into a simple story that readers can understand and enjoy... An imaginative look at what happens after the sun goes down and showcases how, even in the darkness of space, happiness and fun can abound. This cute story will appeal to a variety of readers and will make a nice addition to picture book collections. Highly Recommended."

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1—Before going to bed, Night, portrayed as a little boy, plays hide-and-go-seek with his big sister, Day. Accompanied by his teddy bear and carrying bagfuls of stars (and some milk and cookies), he hops into his spaceship and races off to find her. As he searches, he arranges the stars into constellations and creates the Milky Way by dropping his snacks. Ultimately, he fails to find Day, but she calls him back to their house, tucking him in upon his return and promising to play again after he wakes up. Painted predominantly in purples and blues, the acrylic spreads attempt to offer a sweeping portrayal of Night's journey. However, the cartoon-styled characters' glazed, staring eyes; oversize heads; and generally static expressions ruin any charm this rhyming story may have had. Sprinkled throughout are a few Post-it-like notes from Day. These vignettes offer a diagram of the phases of the Moon, a compass rose, and the direction of the sun's travel throughout the sky (a brief nonfiction note about the day/night cycle would have been considerably more useful). Mixed metaphors and the uneven quality of the illustration make this book additional at best.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

Kirkus Reviews

A story that imagines Night and Day as siblings at play becomes mired in a muddled attempt to do too many things at once. Night is a prince who chases his older sister, Day, across the sky in a game of hide-and-seek. In a spaceship loaded with comets and stars, he and his teddy bear paint the sky with constellations. Brightly colored, cartoon-like artwork sets the stage for fun, with the sleepy, befuddled prince forgetting, as he does each night, that he's supposed to be hunting for his sister. Astronomical elements are thrown into the text and illustrations almost as an instructional afterthought, too often missing the mark. Picture books in rhyme ought to be a pleasure to read aloud, but here the forced meter makes it hard to establish a natural cadence. Where the rhyme does scan properly, it results in heavy, plodding verse that often weakens the story: "The spaceship takes off with a plug-your-ears boom / and blasts into space with a hold-on-tight zoom. / Teddy's distracted. He just wants his snack. / Milk and fresh cookies smell good in the back." Not up to the standard Carter set in her previous award-winning outings (Under a Prairie Sky, 2004, etc.). (Picture book. 4-7)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175042246
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

A prince, Night arrives at a star-spangled palace,
Swirling his cape of aurora borealis.
He fires off comets; then a voice stops his show.
It's loud and commanding—a voice he should know.

"Stop playing!" Day shouts from far across space.
"I'll meet you at home. Come on, it's a race!"
And that's when he finally remembers their game.
He forgot to find Day. Each night it's the same!

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