Little Owl's Night (Little Owl)

A graceful bedtime story celebrates the beauty found in night.

Praise for LITTLE OWL'S NIGHT by Divya Srinivasan: "This debut picture book gets it all just right. The story, while familiar, is executed deftly and with heart, and the crisp graphic elements of the artwork juxtapose well against the pretty prose.

There's a surfeit of books about going to bed, but fewer about the beauty of night after all the humans have gone to sleep. In her debut, Srinivasan explores this world through the character of Little Owl, a mite of a bird with enormous green eyes. "Little Owl visited his friend the raccoon. As they sat in the clover, fog rolled in and hovered just overhead." There's no thread joining the events of Little Owl's pleasant evening; he thinks about showing his friend Bear the moon, but Bear doesn't wake up. Fox says hello, but doesn't stay. "Tell me again how night ends," Little Owl asks his mother. "The moon and stars fade to ghosts," she tells him. "Spiderwebs turn to silver threads." The story's chief virtue is its graceful, balletic prose; the artwork's crisp edges and cold greens and blacks, by contrast, have a polished, commercial feel--a Mary Blair vibe in a Photoshop era. It's a provocative inversion of the classic bedtime story, and a solid first outing. Srinavasan's message is that night is a delightful place, and that's useful knowledge for small children. Ages 3-5. (Sept.)

Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-K--Little Owl-almost overly cute, with huge green eyes-loves the night forest. He flutters around and observes the activities of his nocturnal neighbors. White-faced possums waddle by, bright-eyed beavers chomp on trees against the backdrop of the round moon, crickets chirp, frogs croak, and Little Owl takes it all in. Eventually he returns home, where Mama tells him his favorite story: how night becomes day. "The moon and stars fade to ghosts...the sky brightens from black to blue, blue to red, red to gold...." However, Little Owl does not hear or see it; he is fast asleep. Many young listeners will meet the same pleasant fate by way of this eye-catching, lilting, and reassuring book.--Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"This exceptional first book by Srinivasan, a talented illustrator... follows Little Owl during his nighttime explorations... this bedtime tale may even convert children who are afraid of the dark into adventuresome night owls" - New York Times Book Review

"This is the most visually and verbally gorgeous picture book of the year... Simple, dazzling - and simply dazzling." —The Boston Globe