Night of the Gargoyles

"The gargoyles squat / high on corners / staring into space, their empty eyes unblinking / till night comes." So begins the poetic narrative of this striking picture book from author Eve Bunting and illustrator David Wiesner. Leaving their stiff daytime positions, the gargoyles peek into the museum they guard, cavort in a nearby fountain, and frighten the night watchman, before returning to their accustomed places as dawn approaches...

The beautifully evocative text from Bunting, describing the antics of the gargoyles at night, is perfectly matched by the dark-toned but gorgeous pastel artwork of Wiesner in Night of the Gargoyles. As an admirer of both of these picture book creators, I was eager to track down this beautiful but fearsome show more title, which, although it is not explicitly a Halloween tale, was done in honor of the season. How glad I am that I did, as I found everything about it beautiful. I was reminded of another gargoyle-centered picture book I have read and enjoyed—Dav Pilkey's God Bless the Gargoyles. On the whole, I think I found the Pilkey more emotionally resonant than this one, as it addressed deeper philosophical and religious themes, but aesthetically, from a textual and visual perspective, I think I prefer this one. Perhaps the two could be read together, for two different views on gargoyles. show less

(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. show more 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! show less

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.

Wiesner's stunning b+w illustrations give life to Bunting's lyrical story of gargoyles at night.

I've liked gargoyles since my college days, and I enjoy black and white photography and illustrations as well, so this book was right up my alley. Love David Wiesner illustrations as well, so I enjoyed this one. It isn't as light as the other Wiesners I've seen, but still interesting.

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 show more year-round, but particularly pertinent around Halloween. Recommended for all collections. show less

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.