LITTLE NIGHT written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Morales, Yuyi, 2007. LITTLE NIGHT. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781596430885.

Plot Summary:
LITTLE NIGHT is a wonderful bedtime story and folktale of mother Sky and her daughter little Night. As mother Sky attempts to get her daughter to bathe in falling stars, little Night wants to play hide and seek. Mother sky continues to prepare her daughter for the end of the day by dressing her, preparing a snack and a drink of the Milky Way, and brushing the planets into her hair, all little Night wishes to do is play and hide. In the end little Night takes her moon ball and overcomes the day. The illustrations are drawn using bright colors of yellow, pink, red, and green in the dusk hours of the story that transform into darker hues of purple, brown and black tones as the night comes and the story ends. 

Critical Analysis:
The main characters of mother Sky and daughter Night are personifications of the day changing to the night sky. The story is beautifully illustrated throughout the story on two page spreads showing the reader a view of the earth and sky during its transition from day to night. The setting is not specific but does show elements of the earth and sky during the duration between dusk and night. The time frame of the story encompasses this transition from dusk to nightfall by showing how mother Sky prepares little Night to fill the sky.

This folktale has a celestial theme that is intended to tell the story of how the sky changes from light to dark. The story is delightful, playful and carefree with calming words and illustrations. The mother’s love for her daughter and the daughter's playful interaction with her mother is reveled throughout the tale. Even though the text of the story uses simple words and phrases and is minimal in its length, the story unfolds similar to stanzas in a poem. While not in a rhyming pattern, there is a sense of a beat or pulse in the arrangements of the lines of text.

The illustrations are done using the bright colors of red, orange, yellow, blue and green during the day portion of the story, but transform into purples, dark blues, browns and blacks as the night approaches helps the reader visually move into the night. This is well represented in a great close up scene near the end of the story where mother Sky has little Night sitting on her lab and is brushing the planets of Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter into her daughter's hair.  

Review Excerpt:
Yuyi Morales is a the 2004, 2008, and 2009 Pure Belpre Medal Winner for her books JUST A MINUTE: A TRICKSTER TALE AND COUNTING BOOK, LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, and JUST IN CASE, respectively.  The Booklist stated in their review, “The blues of the evening sky and the reds of the sunset blanket the double-page spreads, enveloping Little Night and her mother and making the metaphor entirely believable. Children will delight in Little Night's dreamy world and will want to read about her unique, yet still familiar, nighttime ritual again and again.” (February, 2007)

Connections:
LITTLE NIGHT has the feel of tranquility that one gets from the story GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. Both have just enough adventure to keep children interested but each has a winding down element that is intended to lull children to sleep. Both these books are excellent bedtime stories for parents to read to their children. Each story has its beat or pulse in the text that have a non-rhyming but rhythmical feel and sound when read aloud. 

Personal Response:
Yuyi Morales is a talented weaver of words, but an even more extraordinary artist. Her use of light and dark pastel colors that splash across each two page spreads throughout the story heightens the readers experience and awe. I will be sure to use this story to tell my grand sons when they are having trouble falling asleep. I intend to practice reading the story out loud in my most soothing, slow, and deliberate voice to help facilitate the feel of love, tranquility and slumber. 

References:

BookListOnline.com, 2007, February. Little Night Review. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Little-Night-Yuyi-Morales/pid=1869782 accessed September 22, 2013.

Little Night book Cover. little_night_cover.300x300.jpg. Retrieved from http://redroom.com/member/yuyi-morales/books/little-night accessed September 22, 2013.