Looking for cookies one day, young Jule Ann instead discovers a small piece of Dark, which tumbles out of the cookie jar and begins consuming all the shadows nearby. Growing ever larger, the Dark eventually settles down on top of the house, obscuring everything around it. Fortunately, Jule Ann knows how to conquer it: luring it with another shadows, and trapping it once again in the cookie jar...

Originally published in 1979, and then revised in 1997, this picture-book from Canadian author/artist team Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko was apparently written for a young child who was afraid of the dark. The surreal humor to be found in the story here, and the ingenuity displayed by the young heroine, in tricking the ever-increasing Dark, both work to assuage the young reader/listener's fear, while the amusing artwork captures the offbeat sense of humor. Recommended to Munsch/Martchenko fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books that address the darkness, and the fear of it that we sometimes feel. ( )