Elf Night - Hardcover

A sleepy boy witnesses a fairy-filled wonderland in Wahl's (Three Pandas) paean to the imagination. "Sudden yellow moon Splashing on the floor Rub your eyes Whispers from the door!" With that, the boy climbs out of bed. Weevers's (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) twilight palette of lavender, light green and inky black lends an air of mystery as the child, dressed in pajamas and carrying a teddy bear, stands on the edge of a magical grove of trees. A full-bleed illustration of the woods dominates one side of the spread, then fades into white space. Led by the light of fireflies, succeeding spreads show "elf folk" with intricate dragonfly wings, gliding on the backs of crickets and riding a rat through sinewy grass to a midnight party amongst the toadstools. But the creatures must leave by daybreak. So must the boy: "Now dry your feet Climb back in bed You know you were there Sleepyhead." Despite a somewhat stilted rhyme scheme, Wahl's narrative effectively blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Ages 3-8
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

reSchool-Grade 2-A pajama-clad boy enters a moonlit forest for peeks at cavorting fairies. The adventure's rhyme suffers from sections with varying meter, inactive verbs, and odd phrases ("Elves can never Live by day") that halt the magic. Although Wahl's wording is not always literally depicted, Weevers's watercolors employ an ideal palette dominated by dusky blues, lavender, and greens. Mystical panoramas of rosy-cheeked, willowy sprites playing various instruments; dancing; or riding bats, crickets, and mice are balanced by single-page vignettes faced by text pages with drifting stars. Tuck this into a bedtime storyhour for its visual appeal.
Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.