Night Lunch

"Clip, clop, a midnight moon./ The night lunch cart rolls in." Spare, incantatory lines by Fan (Lizzy and the Cloud) lay down a soothing rhythm for this nocturnal idyll. Every night, a horse-drawn lunch wagon travels slowly through a darkened city, providing an array of animals--cats, foxes, possums, even a luna moth--with tasty midnight meals. Coffee, mince pie, sausages and peppers, butter rolls and biscuits; each creature gets what it wants. The toque-wearing owl who runs it says little, its energy instead devoted to cooking and serving food ("Crack, crack, a dozen eggs--/ sizzling in the pan"). Via the glow of streetlamps, the luminous moon, and the cart's twinkling light, Seiferling (The Language of Flowers) theatrically illuminates the nighttime action, portrayed in scratchy, sepia-toned art. But who is the tiny creature sweeping trash into the gutter? It's a small, hungry mouse. When the owl realizes the rodent's plight, it invites the mouse to share undreamed-of bounty, and take a bag of food to go--not only sparing its traditional prey, but nourishing it, in this memorable vision of a peaceable kingdom. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. Illustrator's agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. (Sept.)

A horse drawn lunch wagon rolling down a moonlit seemingly deserted city street gathers a crowd of surprising customers in this atmospheric nocturne. To Fan's quietly rhythmic text—"Drip, drop, coffee's hot./ Noses sniff the air./ Shuffle yawn, bellies growl./ The night lunch bell is ringing"—running across the bottom, Seiferling pairs misty scenes of sidewalks and closed stores, glimmering streetlights, and dark apartment buildings. Who would be out at such a late hour? "Night Owl" proclaims the sign on the wagon with perfect truth, for the proprietor/cook turns out to be a large owl, and the queued up clientele? A badger, a fox, a family of porcupines, moths, opossums, and other wildlife sporting hats, purses, and other anthropomorphic gear place orders for mince pie, sandwiches, biscuits, or pudding. Some diners sit down to eat (the wagon is larger on the inside than outside), others take away bags. And after the rush, as the sky begins to brighten and before closing up, the owl invites a tiny mouse who has been hopefully sweeping up the crumbs to share a sumptuous high tea. A hint of mischief animates this peaceful, harmonious alternative to such noisier peeks at what animals really do at night as Gideon Sterer's The Midnight Fair, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio. VERDICT A pleaser for story time or bedtime, with distinctive art that adds quiet touches of humor and mystery.—John Edward Peters