The Night Is Deep and Wide

by Gillian Sze, Sue Todd (Illustrator)

Overview

★ “A lovely visual lullaby to soothe youngest readers to sleep.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Rich imagery, gentle rhythm and soothing repetition will lull your little one to sleep as the tulips close for the night, one by one. In this bedtime story written as an Italian villanelle, poet Gillian Sze makes use of the poetic forms of cyclic pattern and rhyme scheme to create a melodious lullaby.

A young child comes in from picking flowers as the creatures around their home all settle down for the evening. Songbirds curl against their mothers’ sides, the house slumps and sighs low, a hush settles as times slows. And little readers are invited to rest their heads and be soothed to sleep as moonlight falls on eyes that close.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459824812
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/16/2021
Pages:	20
Sales rank:	406,675
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Gillian Sze is the author of multiple poetry collections and picture books, including My Love For You Is Always and You Are My Favourite Color. Her first picture book The Night is Deep and Wide was listed as one of the Best Books for Kids in 2021 by the New York Public Library. Originally from Winnipeg, she now resides in Montreal, where she teaches creative writing and literature.

Sue Todd is an award-winning illustrator living in Toronto, Ontario. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University). Sue began her career as a freelance designer in retail advertising. For a more creative outlet, she took up linoleum carving, an ancient printmaking technique similar to woodcut, and developed a unique style of art that led to a career in illustration. Sue has created images for a wide range of clients, from advertising and corporate to editorial and publishing, including illustrations for An African Alphabet and The Wild Beast.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/08/2021

It’s time to sleep, and all of life knows it in this spare, sleepy-making board book written in villanelle form. As “shadows grow” at dusk, a dark-haired child picking blooms witnesses tulips closing as fireflies “flit and glow,” young songbirds cuddle “against their mothers’ sides,” and “even the home slumps and sighs low.” Visually recalling Nikki McClure’s use of negative space, b&w linocut art by Todd, featuring minimal splashes of color, complements Sze’s gentle words, which confidently engage the verse form’s rhyme and repetition: “Tulips close, row by row.// Moonlight falls/ on eyes that close.” As tulips shut and animals slumber, the protagonist arrives home to curl up, too, settling in for the night with a vase of the tulips on the bedside table. A lovely visual lullaby to soothe youngest readers to sleep. Ages up to 2. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

The soft, repetitive phrases create an overall sense of calmness and relaxation...A great addition to any bedtime routine!

Miramichi Reader

Sze's poetic description of nature's slow unwind from day into night and Todd's subdued colour palette of the illustrations do capture the quiet wonder of night and sleep...Parents and caregivers are sure to use this board book over and over again during their child's bedtime routine. Highly Recommended.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials