★ 09/17/2018
In a wide, quiet yard at dusk, a boy watches as “yellow sinks behind the rooftops.” Inside his snug house, his mother tucks him in with a mug of milk and bedtime kisses, but Max has one more job before sleep: to open the midnight blue box among his toys. With one key turn (“Click... and another click”), the lid flies up and “WHOOSH! Day slips inside as Night sweeps out.” Night “soars, streams, and stretches” into the sky until, finally, it “gets sleepy too,” and returns to the box, where Day has slept. In her picture book debut, Scottish poet Greig’s text is reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown’s work, with hypnotic, repetitive lines that deftly personify the natural world and evoke quiet anticipation: “Day slips out of the leaves,/ out of the pond,/ out of the pink rose/ and the blue ball.” Debut illustrator Lindsay creates vibrant light and dark worlds, both wild and comforting, with saturated colors and spare spreads that contrast the skies’ thrilling vastness with companionable trees and creatures. Though the beautiful imagery in both the words and pictures invites readers to contemplate the miraculous in every day, this is much more than a poetic meditation: it’s a full, luminous, reassuring story, and at its center is a child who is both profoundly powerful and deeply cared for. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)
"Evocative, simple, and reassuring." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Though the beautiful imagery in both the words and pictures invites readers to contemplate the miraculous in every day, this is much more than a poetic meditation: it’s a full, luminous, reassuring story, and at its center is a child who is both profoundly powerful and deeply cared for." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The text’s repetitive, quiet tone fits the nighttime theme and contributes to the sense of safety and security, while sweeping illustrations filled with color and shadow bring the quotidian shift to life." — Booklist
"Lindsay’s digital art brilliantly captures the mood and magic of natural world...A great tool to assuage the fear of the dark; rereads will be a pleasure in this ode to the changing of the time of day." — School Library Journal
08/01/2018
PreS-Gr 1—Nighttime, a scary transition for some children, is made friendly and magical in this picture book debut. As the day ends for young Max, it begins for owl, fox, badger, and mole. As everyone is waiting for the night, so is the "Night Box." Max, who has the key, uses it opening the Night Box, and "Day slips inside and Night sweeps out." Darkness moves around slipping into all the open spaces, which Max enjoys as "Night is mischievous." There is also comfort to be found in night as there is something for everyone—"The branch has an owl, the wall has a tree, and Max has a bear and a soft, warm bed." Greig's lush language creates a sensory experience highlighting those youthful observations as, "Max presses his ear to the darkness. Night turns tiny sounds up LOUD. A tap on the window from a tiny branch sounds like rain, and a purr from a kitten sounds like a lion." Lindsay's digital art brilliantly captures the mood and magic of natural world. Her use of shadow captures the evening light as day moves into night, and "when night gets tired," Max opens the box again for night and day to switch places, and we feel that morning sun. VERDICT A great tool to assuage the fear of the dark; rereads will be a pleasure in this ode to the changing of the time of day.—Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR
★ 2018-06-25
The day is ending, but everything waits for Max to open the Night Box and let the darkness into the air."Day slips out of the leaves" as Max's mother calls him in for bedtime. The gold light of late afternoon fills the sky, and the shadows are long. Max gets ready for bed, and his mother kisses him goodnight. Then the midnight-blue box in the corner of his room is ready to be opened with his key. Lindsay's clean, delicate lines and subdued palette perfectly complement and interpret Greig's precise, quiet, and lighthearted poetic text. Small creatures and flowers, tall trees with delicate leaves, and graceful, spare, sweeping landscapes surround Max as the dark flows around them. The language is delicious: "Night shakes itself into the trees." The "night is huge," encompassing not only Max's house, but the pond, the forest, the ocean. And the "night is brave," concealing and guarding a doe and her fawn. It confers gifts, matching up moon and pond, a fox and a rose, Max and "a bear and a soft, warm bed." At every turn the darkness and the night seem to be big and mysterious yet magical and somehow intimate. Max's power to take charge of night and to celebrate as he lets day out "and a new song begins" is evocative, simple, and reassuring. (Picture book. 3-6)
