Good Night, Wind: A Yiddish Folktale

A sparkling story whose fresh words and deeply imagined, skillfully rendered illustrations give it a feel that is both contemporary and folkloric.

Striking artwork fashioned from ribbons of crisply cut colored paper enlivens this retelling of a Yiddish folktale. Winter Wind flies into a rage after searching unsuccessfully for a place to sleep, "crying like a child, howling like a dog, wailing like a cat." No one wants to host the chilly breeze, neither tree nor rock nor country innkeeper. A girl whose brother cries in fright shouts at Wind ("Stop pounding on our windows!"), then realizes that Wind's fury is really exhaustion. "Wind is acting like a tired, angry baby," the girl tells her brother, and they find Wind a quiet place to sleep. Marshall (Mommy, Baby, and Me) writes with the force of a gale: "Snow hurtled to the ground and gusted back to the sky, whirling in huge white sheets." Spreads in autumn reds and winter blues by cut-paper artist Doliveux carry still more energy--gusts blow off Wind's bulky blue body as sailing ribbons and embossed white paper represents mounds of snow. Discovering that rage can mask other emotions is powerful knowledge, and readers will be drawn to the image of the two children taming a gigantic force. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

* "Inspired by a Yiddish story, author Marshall uses fresh language to reimagine this tale of the winter wind . . . While the story is wonderfully inviting in itself, illustrator Doliveux's images, created using dioramas constructed from cut-paper collage, then lit and photographed, are wondrous. Winter Wind is a swirling mass of paper strips in cool blues and whites with dark, expressive eyes. By contrast, the cozy rooms and houses are rendered in warm colors and steady lines to give viewers a sense of order and warmth. Both white and brown-skinned people are depicted. A sparkling story whose fresh words and deeply imagined, skillfully rendered illustrations give it a feel that is both contemporary and folkloric."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Striking artwork fashioned from ribbons of crisply cut colored paper enlivens this retelling of a Yiddish folktale. . . . Marshall (Mommy, Baby, and Me) writes with the force of a gale . . . Spreads in autumn reds and winter blues by cut-paper artist Doliveux carry still more energy—gusts blow off Wind's bulky blue body as sailing ribbons and embossed white paper represents mounds of snow. Discovering that rage can mask other emotions is powerful knowledge, and readers will be drawn to the image of the two children taming a gigantic force."—Publishers Weekly


"Near the end of wintertime, the wind—personified in Doliveux's striking illustrations as a large blue body affixed with different-colored and -textured strips of paper, depending on its changeable mood—is tired. . . . The children find an out of the-way resting spot for Wind, and in doing so, make a friend for all seasons. . . . readers should appreciate the cleverness and problem-solving abilities of her young characters, not to mention their empathy."—The Horn Book Magazine