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New York Times Outstanding
Book
of the Year
THE NIGHT IS LIKE AN ANIMAL
Candace Whitman, Author and Illustrator
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1995
Price: $5.00
(available in softcover only) |
Description:
The night is like an animal
that nibbles on the day.
Everywhere it takes a bite
the sky turns dark and gray.
So begins this enchanting bedtime poem about the beauty of Night.
Traveling across the earth, Night - in the form of an animal - brings peaceful sleep to
children around the world. And when dawn comes, it departs, leaving hidden paw prints
in the shadows and elusive memories of sweet dreams. Both children and adults will delight
in following Nights' moonlit ramble.
| Ben and Emma Levine of Maryland
enjoy a copy of
The Night is Like an Animal
with Aunt Eleanor. |
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Distinctions:
New York Times' "Outstanding Book of the
Year"
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Children's Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
Recommended in The New Yorker and American Baby
Peaceable Kingdom Press (Greeting cards)
Selection
Publisher's Weekly writes:
"Using simile and metaphor, Whitman personifies the night - often a
dark and scary time for kids - as an amiable, bear-like creature ... the poem brims with
colorful images that comfort and soothe. .. the cover of darkness here is as warm and
welcome as a favorite blanket."
Suitable Age/Stage: The metaphor will resonate
with children at the upper end of the picture book age range - 4 years old and up.
The soothing rhyme and tone also make it a good choice for any child experiencing a fear
of the dark.
Customer Comments:
Katherine Mihok
from New York
What threat or fear could emanate from a Night whose "happy sigh...starts the evening
breezes and blows the moon up high"? In this gentle, rhyming story, Night comes on
large, furry paws and moves slowly through a landscape both earthly and heavenly. . This
is a book that could easily become part of a child's happy bedtime routine, like cuddling
a Teddy or stroking a cheek with a blanket.
Purchase The Night is Like an
Animal
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