Out After Dark! The Night Is Yours by Abdul-Razak Zachariah

Little one, so calm and happy,

this is your night.

Oh, what is so rare as a night in summer?

Those warm nights, with their long twilights, with air and shadows so soft--what a great time to play!

Grab the cool breezes in the courtyard. This is where you chill.

Some of childhood's fondest memories are of hiding and seeking games outside, while neighbor parents softly chat and laugh together nearby.

We found the best hiding places and tried not to giggle and give ourselves away when we heard the countdown and "Coming, Ready or Not! And when we were hot and tired of running and chasing, and the one who is IT sings "Olly, olly, in free," we threw ourselves down on the grass and looked up, at the moths circling the street lights like glowing fireflies, at the moon having its moment, at the stars all out. Who can spot the Big Dipper?

This is your night!

The dark skies are still full of your laughter and joy.

Abdul-Razak Zachariah's The Night Is Yours (Dial Books, 2019) put in a poetic plea for children and parents to take back the night, to enjoy the fun of spending some time outside as it grows dark. There's a sense of freedom from the day's responsibilities; the outdoors is different in the gloaming, a good time to enjoy coming together as friends, family, and community.  Keturah Bobo's distinctive double-page spreads, backlighted by the full moon, add to the fun of taking back the nights. Says School Library Journal in a starred review, "Zachariah's lyrical language aches to be read aloud and the second-person narrative makes this a perfect book to share one-on-one or in storytime."

Midnight Special: Night Train: A Journey from Dawn to Dusk by Annie Cronin Romano

Night train wakens to the dusk,
Journey starting, day departing--

The romance of the steam train--the rhythm of the rails, the chug and the clatter, the screech of the brakes and the lonesome whistle--all are the subject of Annie Cronin Romano's book, Night Train: A Journey from Dusk to Dawn (Page Street Kids, 2019), on the continuing mysterious appeal of the midnight special, its headlight piercing the dark and its horn blowing for the crossing as it moves through the dark, mostly sleeping world.

Its drivers driving, its smokestack billowing, the night train crosses the trestles over the rivers, pushes through tunnels underground, blows by small stations, dark and deserted, steams by small towns sleeping, snug and safe.

Boxcars rattle, spooking cattle.
steady crawling, never-stalling, night train.

As it passes through dark wheat fields, cattle standing like sleeping statues, or horses racing the train in their fields, perhaps those people lying awake in the wee hours find reassurance that the night train is on duty, getting the goods to people who will be waking soon, moving sleepy people in the passenger cars to their destinations, a trusty servant who doesn't mind working the night shift.

Author Annie Cronin Romano captures that romance of the legendary midnight train in her forthcoming book with lyrical blank verse that conveys the sound and presence of that train as it makes its way, left to right, through the dark world and through her picture book until the break of dawn ends its run, backed up by Ileana Soon's blue-black illustrations of the train and the landscapes it traverses, until it comes to rest, its work done for the day.

Journey finished, dark diminished--
sunlight streaming
finally dreaming
night train.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "Romano's rhythmic poem is filled with repeated sounds, internal rhymes, and evocative imagery...Soothing words and steady rhythm make a solid bedtime story for young listeners..."

For younger sleepyheads, pair this one with Sherry Duskey Rinker's top-selling Steam Train, Dream Train (review here), or for somewhat older bed-goers, share Andrea Rosenbaum's exceptional Trains Don't Sleep (review here).

This Little Light of Mine! I'm Not Afraid of the Dark by Helena Harastova

SOMETHING JUST WOKE ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

IS IT A MONSTER?

There's nothing worse than waking to things that go bump in the night.

There's a something in Tommy's closet.

But Tommy's got his Teddy bear AND his secret weapon. Inside his close it reveals--only his clothes and some toys!

I'M NOT AFRAID OF THEM!

Now there's a something bumping around in the garage. Could it be aliens from outer space?

Nope. Just Daddy, getting some luggage down from the shelf.

Wait! What's that squeaking around the garbage cans? A troll?

Oh, no, silly me! It's just a rabbit. Now I see.

What is Tommy's secret weapon? His magical flashlight reveals just ordinary stuff going on.

In Helena Harastova's reassuring story, Tommy's theme song is "This Little Light of Mine," as he lets his flashlight shine on all the seemingly scary places that reveal the sources of ordinary noises of the night, in her I'm Not Afraid of the Dark (Chronicle Books, 2017. Sometimes a flashlight is truly the the secret to taking the fright out of those bumps in the night, and with Harastova's little flap-and-pull-tab book, youngsters are in control of when and where the flashlight's beam is directed. Artist Jakub Cenkl adds to the fun by adding a little humor with his illustrations to each night noise in a different sort of bedtime story.

The Music of the Night: The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers

William looked out his window to find a commotion on the street.

Grimloch Street is a bit grim. The old houses are gray and run- down, and the townspeople in sight seem downcast, too, as at twilight William sketches an owl in the dirt with a stick. But when William leaves his drawing and goes up to his bedroom to sleep, something seems to happen overnight.

William hastily pulls on some clothes and dashes down to the street where he sees...

A tree shaped like an owl.

The wise old owl had appeared overnight as if by magic.

William is mystified by the sudden manifestation of the owl tree and determines to solve the mystery. For the next three mornings, he sees a figure he remembers --an old mustached man in a Derby hat, carrying a long ladder. William finally follows the shadowy figure and watches as the clandestine gardener puts up his ladder and climbs up with his shears to shape bushes and trees into topiaries of animals of all kinds.

His neighborhood is nightly transformed, especially Grimloch Park, which blooms with fantastical figures--rabbits, dragons, and cats. Not surprisingly, the town is spruced up by its residents to fit its fancy trees.

And then one night, as William shadows the night gardener, he turns and speaks to him.

"There are so many trees in this park. I could use a little help."

Under the light of the moon they worked deep into the night.

And one morning William awakes to find the old man gone, but beside himself a gift--the gardener's shears. Now William is the Gardener, in the Fan Brothers' The Night Gardener (Simon and Schuster, 2017). Executing in delicious pen-and-ink retro-styled illustrations, cross-hatched and detailed drawings of tall, frame houses and fantastical leafy creatures and varied townspeople, done in soft muted tertiary colors that invite scrutiny of every page, the artist transitions the town through the seasons. School Library Journal likens the Fans' illustrations to the style of a "more cheerful Edward Gorey," while the New York Times Book Review places the Fans's art as "halfway between traditional old engravings and the looser lines of more modern artists, and describe their "lovely, luminous effect." The Fans' fantastical topiary tale has a beneficent magical mojo working that portrays the mythic power of artistry to transform its world.

For more "Music of the Night," share this tale with Lizi Boyd's noted Flashlight and Mortecai Gerstein's lovely The Night World. (see review here).