One scary night

Gr. 2-4. This is scary, and although the book is in a traditional, horizontal picture-book format, its audience should be older children, particularly those interested in the striking black-and-white art. The wordless story shows a boy in black silhouette tramping though white snow (the bottom third of the spread), with a pure, black sky above. The intricate interplay of stark opposites soon reveals a dark animal, perhaps a wolf, padding through the snow, the boy in its sights. As the snow falls harder, the animal moves closer. In a truly upsetting spread, the animal jumps on the child, knocking him down. It's then revealed that the predator is the boy's friendly dog, overjoyed to see him. With art reminiscent of Istvan Banyai's, this book is a fantastic example of what can be accomplished in black and white, especially when design elements are as stylishly rendered as these: Tiffany glass-style branches top crisscrossing trees, and overhead views give children a literal bird's-eye view. Shiny gold eyes peer from a glossy black cover, with book's title, in white, luring children inside. --Ray Olson Copyright 2005 Booklist

K-Gr 3-A suspenseful, wordless picture book. On a cold, dark night, a boy trudges through the snowy woods alone. A wolflike animal that appears to be stalking him sets readers' nerves on edge. When the animal finally pounces, it looks as though the boy is in serious trouble. But images can be deceiving-by the end, it is clear that the creature has saved the boy from a falling tree and the two are friends. The black-and-white images are stark, simple shapes with no shades of gray. Yet these sharp contrasts come together to create intricate visuals and a sense of optical illusion that keeps the story full of movement and tension. Many of the spreads are breathtaking and will have readers on the edge of their seats until the surprise happy ending.-Julie Roach, Watertown Free Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.