The Night World

A young child's cat wakes him up late one night (or maybe it's early in the morning) and ushers him through his house in the dark so that they can catch the sunrise. The artwork on this is utterly and completely gorgeous. The creep through the house is done in black and grayish sepia tones and then once they are out in the yard the sun slowly creeps in, and then full color spreads of the sunrise. The artwork alone makes it worthwhile; the author perfectly catching the excitement of creeping through the house late at night while everyone else is asleep is an added bonus.

Oh, Mordecai Gerstein, could I possibly love your work any more? A simple beginning leads to growing anticipation as a boy and his cat wait for dawn. When it finally comes, it's like arriving in Oz itself. For your own good, don't flip ahead to the last pages until you read your way there.

A young child's cat wakes him up late one night (or maybe it's early in the morning) and ushers him through his house in the dark so that they can catch the sunrise. The artwork on this is utterly and completely gorgeous. The creep through the house is done in black and grayish sepia tones and then once they are out in the yard the sun slowly creeps in, and then full color spreads of the sunrise. The artwork alone makes it worthwhile; the author perfectly catching the excitement of creeping through the house late at night while everyone else is asleep is an added bonus.

A young child's cat wakes him up late one night (or maybe it's early in the morning) and ushers him through his house in the dark so that they can catch the sunrise. The artwork on this is utterly and completely gorgeous. The creep through the house is done in black and grayish sepia tones and then once they are out in the yard the sun slowly creeps in, and then full color spreads of the sunrise. The artwork alone makes it worthwhile; the author perfectly catching the excitement of creeping through the house late at night while everyone else is asleep is an added bonus.

A young child's cat wakes him up late one night (or maybe it's early in the morning) and ushers him through his house in the dark so that they can catch the sunrise. The artwork on this is utterly and completely gorgeous. The creep through the house is done in black and grayish sepia tones and then once they are out in the yard the sun slowly creeps in, and then full color spreads of the sunrise. The artwork alone makes it worthwhile; the author perfectly catching the excitement of creeping through the house late at night while everyone else is asleep is an added bonus.

The reader is engaged in this book by the mysterious journey that that the cat brings the little boy on. He awakens the boy during the night, where everything is dark and looks different than he's used to during the daytime. The illustrations demonstrate this darkness. Finally, we realize that the cat wants to show the little boy the sunrise, and the artwork introduces color at the ending pages.

PJ Library

Sylvie the cat wakes a bedheaded child, luring them outside: "It's coming...It's almost here. Hurry!" Outside the house, "The dark is soft and comfortable. This is the night world. There are shadows everywhere." Nocturnal animals change places with diurnal ones as night changes to day. "Good morning, everyone! It's going to be a beautiful day!"

Like The Giver, the story starts out in grayscale, but lightens gradually as night fades into morning, and finally explodes into color with the sunrise.

Illustrations in acrylic, pen and ink, and colored pencil on Strathmore gray Artagain paper.