Review by New York Times Review
At the stroke of midnight, a shadowy figure swings across a moon-filled landscape. His silhouette, armed only with a collaged rope and the hint of a sword on his back, "climbed and clambered" along walls lined with mysterious, darkened textures. "The house was silent. Everyone was asleep." And then, out of nowhere, he's caught! The novice. DaCosta, in her first picture book, seems nonetheless experienced with such nighttime apparitions. This one's aborted mission was chocolate milk. He'll finish it in the morning. ALL THE AWAKE ANIMALS ARE ALMOST ASLEEP By Crescent Dragonwagon. Illustrated by David McPhail. 40 pp. Little, Brown & Company. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Another entry in the reluctant sleeper category, with a sweetness reminiscent of Mem Fox's delicious "Time for Bed" and a menagerie to match. Here, persuasion is signaled through an A-to-Z's worth of sleeping animals, with creatures like the ibex and the quetzal dredged up to round out the alphabet. A cat is "curled up on a crimson couch cushion," and a dromedary "drops down to his knees, dozing under the date palms." This is a familiar tale, but McPhail's watercolors are luxuriously colorful, like a warm, luminescent blanket at bedtime, and the alliterative text is softly lulling. SLEEP LIKE A TIGER By Mary Logue. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. 40 pp. Houghton Mifflin. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) "Once there was a little girl who didn't want to go to sleep even though the sun had gone away." Well - who ever heard of such a child as that? This one's got a scooter, a stuffed tiger, a princess tiara and a copy of "The Little Prince." And though she's recalcitrant, her parents are agreeable and accommodating. They patiently answer all her questions ("Do whales sleep?"). They tire her out. Logue's text is reassuring and rhythmic, but it is the fine detail and plush atmospherics of Zagarenski's layered multimedia illustrations that make the book shine. The lucky girl gets to cozy up to a slumbering tiger, an oversize fantasy of her lovey, at story's end. BEDTIME IS CANCELED By Cece Meng. Illustrated by Aurélie Neyret. 32 pp. Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Never mind the convincing and the cajoling, the tricks and the threats and the extended bouts of despair. Just get rid of bedtime altogether, as Maggie proposes and her brother transcribes. Her parents dismiss the notion, but a tenacious reporter grabs hold, and in full-on 2012 fashion, the story is e-mailed, texted and broadcast about, with parents gaping at the "Bedtime Is Canceled" headlines on their iPads as they stroll through the park (a little too real). Neyret's images veer toward the cartoonish, but children will appreciate the humor. There is much to mock in overtired parents, it seems. NIGHTSONG By Ari Berk. Illustrated by Loren Long. 48 pp. Simon & Schuster. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) There is nothing at all cute about bats, but don't tell that to the talented Long ("Otis," "Of Thee I Sing," "Angela and the Baby Jesus"), who has managed in the past to make even a tractor endearing. Here we are called on to sympathize with a little nocturnal creature who is afraid of the dark. Berk's able storytelling enriches and elaborates on what might otherwise seem a tired notion. Of course, there's also a message about learning to rely on your own senses (or echolocation), and making your way in the world. Even when you're completely in the dark. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 14, 2012]
Review by Booklist Review
In this gentle midnight allegory, a young bat is encouraged by his mother to strike out on his own into the wide world outside their cave. Little Chiro, far more adorable than your average bat, thanks to the puppy-dog face Long gives him, is worried about not being able to see in the dark, to which his mother offers the reassurance that there are other ways to see . . . Use your good sense. Kids up on their chiropteran knowledge will see where this is going: Chiro floats through intimidating black washes until he begins to sing, a ray of light emanating from his mouth that illuminates the path ahead as he flies past the woods, through a flock of geese, and to the pond, where he gobbles contentedly on tasty bugs. Paralleling good sense with both a song to light a path and with a bat's echolocation might require kids to flex their conceptualization muscles a bit, but Long's gorgeous artwork, in which the warmly hued bat flits through steep, rich darkness, goes a long way toward making this one a winner.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Berk (The Secret History of Giants) presents a delicate, lyrical story about independence, trusting one's instincts and abilities, and bats. Written in passionate prose-poetry, it stars Chiro, a bat who is nervous about his first solo venture. Momma reassures him that his "good sense" will help him find his way. "Sense is the song you sing out into the world, and the song the world sings back to you." It's a brilliant description of echolocation and an equally strong metaphor for the logic and perception that human children can use to cut through fear. Long's (Otis and the Tornado) soft lines convey the concept clearly; surrounded by ink-black night, Chiro's song illuminates a cone-shaped area in front of him, which reveals trees, geese, and other surprises in the dark. The only odd note is Chiro himself; Long opts for an anthropomorphized hero with huge ears, fuzzy texturing, and a quizzical look-he's more flying teddy bear than bat. Still, if his cuddly looks and Berk's insights make bats and their swooping flight less mysterious, it's all for the good. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-T. Ryder Smith brings a poet's cadence to his reading of Berk's story (S & S, 2012) about Chiro, a young bat's first solo journey into the night. It imagines his initial fear and building confidence as he discovers his song, or the echo that sings back to him, as he learns to find his way in the dark. Smith captures the young bat's questions and the mother's belief that her son can get his own breakfast this time. Voicing the question, "What is sense?," Smith captures the wonder of a child, followed by the mother's calm release when she "let him go" with an equally profound delivery. As Chiro begins to understand how his song works to show him the way, Smith's voicing becomes bolder. Have the book available so that listeners can see Loren Long's beautiful acrylic-and-graphite illustrations. The author's final note explaining the inspiration for the name Chiro is also narrated. This story works as a wonderful introduction to a unit on echolocation or a study of bats.-Janet Thompson, West Belmont Branch, Chicago Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Exquisite design coupled with evocative illustrations enrich this charming tale of a little bat taking his first solo flight and how he learns to "see" with his "good sense," otherwise known as echolocation. Although picture books about bats abound, small Chiro will capture readers' hearts immediately. When the bat-mother tells her child it is time for him to fly alone, the little one shares his fears about the darkness and his inability to see. His mother instructs him on what to do--"sing out into the world, and [listen to] the song the world sings back to you. Sing, and the world will answer. That is how you'll see." Up to this point, Long, utilizing acrylics and graphite, features the two creatures up close in toasty browns against a textured dark background. When the mother lets Chiro go, the page turn reveals an emotional change in perspective. No longer is the young bat cuddly and large on the page; now he appears tiny and vulnerable in the immense black spread. Talented storytelling features rich yet concrete language to describe and to build suspense during the bat's nocturnal trip. Vague but frightening shapes in the dark become defined as trees, bugs, geese and ocean waves in the bluish-green tones used to render a visual of the bat's echolocation. Young ones will relate to Chiro and cheer as he gains confidence with his newfound skill and will be deeply satisfied flying along on his sensory-rich journey. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
