Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* As a man prepares to head off to work in the evening, he lovingly says goodbye to his family and drives away as the sun sets, on his way to the construction site where he works as a night watchman. Against dusky blue, shadow-filled scenes, the night watchman does his rounds, walking through the lots filled with construction vehicles and half-built buildings. As he makes sure everything is in order, he comes across a small gray kitten, and the two share his meal and walk through the construction site together. The night watchman's good heart is evident when the kitten disappears from view, and he worries as he hears sounds of dogs and cars. Luckily, the kitten returns, and young readers will be happy knowing the kitten has found a good forever home. The pithy, poetic text brings a sense of calm and wonder, and onomatopoeic words note the many sounds the watchman hears in the quiet of the dark night. Yoo's textured, serene artwork in beautiful saturated tones perfectly complements Sullivan's lines and conveys a beauty in the night and the construction site that readers might otherwise miss. As the kitten and the night watchman make their rounds, trucks turn into elephants, cranes into giraffes, and a regular night of work turns into a magical night filled with the promise of friendship.--Selenia Paz Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A night watchman hugs his family and goes to work, where he methodically makes his rounds through an empty construction site. His flashlight's warm yellow beam illuminates the darkness: "He checks the doors. He checks the workshop." Debut author Sullivan, who based the story on his own experience, illuminates the inner life of his character as well, using concise, poetic language. The watchman "thinks of his boy and girl, safe and asleep at home." He's alert to the beauty of the darkness, too: the big trucks' fanciful-looking shadows ("A backhoe rises like a giant insect"), the full moon that "shines like an old friend," the way the air fills with a sound of a train and then becomes still again. Most of all, he is kind: a stray gray kitten joins him on his rounds ("'Back again?' he asks"), and after worrying when it disappears, the watchman takes the kitten home to join his family. Yoo (Strictly No Elephants) sets a lovely mood, taking readers from sunset to dawn through washes of orange, pink, and blue, the watchman's compassionate demeanor assuring them that all's well. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-After saying good night to his family, a night watchman makes his rounds at a construction site, checking that all is well. As he sits down to enjoy a cup of coffee, a kitten appears and accompanies him on the rest of his nightly circuit as the site grows darker and more fanciful-"An excavator bows like a strange giraffe. A backhoe rises like a giant insect." When the kitten suddenly disappears, the watchman worries until the kitten returns. This time, rather than letting the kitten go, the watchman brings him home to his family. Yoo's distinctive block print illustrations and Sullivan's spare poetic prose render a mundane construction site magical, alive with nighttime sights and sounds, and make the watchman's emotions so heartfelt, readers will worry and rejoice along with him. VERDICT Based on true events, an unusual story of friendship so deftly executed it should be welcome in most collections.-Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University © Copyright 2018. 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
A night watchman spies a stray kitten one night, and they befriend each other. As the man makes his rounds of the construction site, the kitten accompanies himuntil, suddenly, shes gone. Fortunately, after a few fraught page-turns of worry, the kitten returns, and the night ends happily, with the man taking her home to his young family. Yoos textured illustrations are full of atmosphere; they glow with the light of the setting or rising sun or are accented by the beam of the mans flashlight or a lighted window. Cranes and bulldozers loom in the darkness, and although the mood is not scary, there is a palpable sense of comfort after the kitten begins keeping the man company. Careful viewers will notice a repeated double-page spread (one early in the book as the man makes his rounds, alone, and one near the end, with the sun rising and the man now not alone); the view is identical except for the change in the light and the presence of the kitten. Sullivans text is also very strong, brief yet poetic, and with similes that will resonate with a preschool audience (the full moon shines like an old friend; an excavator bows like a strange giraffe). Best of all, this quiet, understated book contains a wealth of emotions young children can work through and relate tofrom worry to relief to the comfort of belonging. martha v. Parravano (c) Copyright 2018. 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The story of a simple friendship that forms over the course of a night shift is given rich life with evocative art and prose.After the title character leaves his family to work as a caretaker of a large construction site, he's visited by a small, gray kitten. The tiny furry companion follows as the night watchman makes his rounds, but when the kitten disappears, the man worries about its fate as he hears a dog, a train, passing cars. This isn't a Stephen King novel; things turn out fine, and the man's family ends up one feline richer. But the journey to get to that dawn reunion is lovely. Illustrator Yoo's sunsets, purple-to-blue night skies, and chalky beams of yellow light set the mood, while her deceptively simple rendering of the kind-faced watchman puts readers into the man's shoes. But the real surprise is the depth of debut writer Sullivan's words. The construction vehicles don't just sit on the lot: "Garbage trucks line up like circus elephants. / A backhoe rises like a giant insect." Sound effects ("peent peent peent" goes a nighthawk) and lived-in, careful observations make it no surprise to learn that Sullivan was a building and equipment guard and that the cat-adoption story is real. The man and his family are people of color.Every life and job is unique; this book's take on the job of a watchman is empathetic, poetic, and a joy to look at, cute kitty and all. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
