Review by Booklist Review
The sun makes me happy . . . yellow is my favorite color, says Ella. Nighttime, on the other hand, makes her anxious and afraid. Every night, she chases shadows away by turning on all the lights in her house, until her mother gently and calmly nudges her outside at dusk. While Mom seems to like yellow as much as her daughter the illustrations feature a house drenched in jonquil she knows how to introduce Ella to the moon. As a full, lightly golden ball rises, Ella soon sees that the evening is luminous, too, enhanced by the dark. Sicuro adds many small, delightful touches: lemons on a plate, a yellow pencil, a canary. Outside the house, her palette becomes richer and deeper, making an orange sunset, fireflies, and the white face of an owl look brilliant. Feder's words are gentle and reassuring and will satisfy children who also fear the dark. They take up little space on the page, letting the pictures do most of the talking. A lovely addition to bedtime book collections.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Ella is afraid of the dark. She clutches her mother's hand as dusk falls, and flicks on many lights throughout her house. One evening, while Ella rues the disappearance of the sun and the absence of yellow from the nighttime sky, her mother encourages her to take a peek outside. The child is pleasantly surprised to find glowing fireflies and a golden moon illuminating the darkness: "It's my favorite color-only quieter." As Ella and her mother sit side by side on the front porch swing, they listen to the sounds of the night. Sicuro's striking watercolor and ink illustrations move from domestic daytime scenes, accented with splashes of yellow wallpaper, sunny flowers in a vase, and lemon slices on a plate, to a velvety black background revealing twinkling stars and elegant nocturnal creatures. Having faced her fears, Ella gains a newfound appreciation for the stillness of the dark. Back inside her house, the little girl turns on fewer lights, content in knowing that "the night belong[s] to the moon, quietly glowing through her bedroom window." VERDICT A simply luminous and reassuring selection to share before bedtime, again and again.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ont., Canada © Copyright 2016. 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 Horn Book Review
Every night, when the dark entered the house...Ella grew afraid." But after Ella's mother takes her outside to experience the sounds and sights of nighttime--the bright moon, the crickets chirping--she's not scared of the dark anymore. The quiet bedtime story is accompanied by soothing mixed-media illustrations in a palette of mostly black, gray, and yellow (Ella's favorite color). (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
