Night of the Gargoyles

Wiesner illustrated with dark black and white drawings. Story is about what gargoyles get up to once night falls.

Z read this aloud this morning (we had read it to him years and years ago) . . . cool illustrations but the typeface was difficult for a newly-independent reader to feel comfortable with. But he did like it. ( )

(easy picture book, fiction) At night, perhaps set in London or the like, atop of a museum, lifeless stone gargoyles come to life as the moon rises and the sun sets. The gargoyles partake in very human activities such as hanging out in a fountain together and complaining of everyday humdrum details such as how to deal with the pigeons that sit on their head , the autumn leaves that clog their drainspoutsor how the sun make their "corners" hot. It aids in one's imagination as to what it might be like to actually be a gargoyle sitting on a building perch, day in and day out. As a fan of gargoyle sculpture, I would envision a fun activity would be to supply photographs of different gargoyles found on buildings around the world to study. Gargoyle mythology could also be explored. If you lived near a place such as Princeton University in New Jersey, a scavenger field trip would be fun. I did this myself one day and explored the campus taking photographs of the different gargoyles I discovered on the various buildings. Gargoyles could be created out of clay. The book lends itself to many hands-on imaginative activities. One of the things I like best about the book is the description the gargoyles use to describe their frustration at not having more human like qualities, such as "gargoyle laughs that rumble thick because their is no space inside their solid stone for laughs to somersault." These are basic human priveleges we take for granted that I'm sure a stone gargoyle would love to experience! ( )

About Gargoyles coming to life at night, very scary and spooky. ( )

During the middle of the night, the gargoyles that decorate the exterior of an art museum come to life and frighten the night watchman. Muted charcoal and pencil drawings contribute to the overall spookiness of the book. A great book for those little Visigoths who love Halloween! Illustrated, charcoal on paper.

Can be used in the classroom to enhance Halloween or winter carnival celebrations. ( )

Night of the gargoyles
The book is about the life of gargoyles. They stay up on the building during the day but at night they leave from off the building to be free in the night air. They window shop, fly up to the stars and even hand out with other gargoyles. They complain about the things they go threw during the day. Hot sun raises, rain and the birds are the worst for them. But after a night of fun they retire back to there buildings awaiting the night to return again.

I thought this would be a good story being so close to Halloween. But the kids didn’t like it. I guess most of born in Oklahoma probably have never seen a gargoyle that hand off of buildings. It was just a book to them. They listened but not much discussion on this book.

I only did one activity with them because I didn’t really want to draw it out. I brought pictures of my trip down to San Antonio, when my family and I went on the river boat ride. There where gargoyles on the building. They looked but they didn’t really get excited. Then we did a coloring sheet. ( )

I read this book because I was looking for a Halloween book to read to students. I found this a bit too scary for the age group I was going to read to, but it was a hard decision not to read it. I loved the colorful language, metaphors and illustrations. ( )

This book is about gargoyles that come to life at night. Even though this is a picture book with not a lot of words, I wouldn't recommend this book to younger students. It could be somewhat scary and it also has some harder vocabulary that they wouldn't know. If you wanted to introduce the new vocabulary to the students before you read, then it would be more appropriate for younger students. The pictures are black and white and very interesting. ( )

GRL P,GL 5.9,AR 4.1,4 copies

GRL P,GL 5.9,AR 4.1,4 copies

I think that the ideal age group for this book would be 5th and 6th graders--though they are not particularly an age level that gets excited by picture books--because some of the vocabulary may be difficult for younger readers: "pockmarked, cherub, torrents, mottled," for instance. However, there aren't all that many difficult vocab words, so it may be a good book to introduce new terms with. The plot of the story: gargoyles come to life at night and play, almost like Carnival--think Toy Story, but with giant stone figures. Eve Bunting wrote the book, David Wiesner illustrated it. The illustrations show the enjoyment with which the gargoyles frolic, how intensely they enjoy their nightly freedom. A good book to keep in the collection year-round, but particularly pertinent around Halloween. Recommended for all collections. ( )

Midnight at the museum, and the gargoyles come alive to stretch their wings and play in the fountains. Spooky fun, well illustrated in pastel by David Wiesner. A must for gargoyle lovers.