The Dark - Lemony Snicket

Illustrated by Jon Klassen

2013 Little Brown Books for Young Readers

HC $16.99

40 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.03

My rating: 3/Liked it

Endpapers: Solid dark BLACK

Title Page The widening stream of light from the flashlight that started on the previous page.  Very cool.

Illustrations:  very simple, blacks and browns with a touch of light blue (the boy's pjs)

1^st lines: "Laszlo was afraid of the dark. The dark lived in the same house as Laszlo, a big place with a creaky roof, smooth, cold windows, and several sets of stairs."

I liked this book.  I didn't love it.  I read it aloud to my fourth graders, who seemed to like it, too.  But love it?  I'm not so sure.  We talked a lot more about the illustrations than we did about the actual story, particularly the way the darkness and the light were depicted.  Great conversations. Here are some of their responses:

-"this would be very good to read to kids that are afraid of the dark, because it turns out the dark is their friend." - Tzippi

-"the dark side is actually on the good side." - Berto

- "the dark doesn't want you to be afraid of it, it wants you to like it!" - Panina

- "a good bedtime story for small children." - Levi

-"don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case, don't judge The Dark by its cover." - Michael

-" kids might be scared at first, but by the end they will be brave and not scared of the dark anymore...like Laszlo." - Sara

- "if you're afraid of the dark, all you have to do is take a step into it." - Terra

- "don't be afraid of the dark 'cause it's everywhere you go." - Sami

-"there's always a light bulb in the bottom drawer..." - Ben

-"in this book the dark will show you what you need to know to not be afraid of it." - Ivan

-"the illustrations fit perfectly with the words." - Stella

-"once you open the book and see the end pages, you want want to read on." - Sophie

Goodreads:  Laszlo is afraid of the dark. The dark is not afraid of Laszlo.  Laszlo lives in a house. The dark lives in the basement.  One night, the dark comes upstairs to Laszlo's room, and Laszlo goes down to the basement.  This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark.