PICTURE BOOK - Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by  Rick Allen
2011 Newbery Honor
2010. Houghton Mifflin

HC $16.99
32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.97 - 1853 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers:  solid royal purple

Illustrations:  Woodprints?

My comments:  Sophisticated poetry about some of the creatures that creep in the woods at night, illustrated with lovely prints by Rick Allen.

Goodreads:

Welcome to the Night

To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep;
Welcome to the night.

To you, who make the forest sing,
who dip and dodge on silent wing,
who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling:
Welcome to the night!

Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves;
Welcome to the night.

The night's a sea of dappled dark,
the night's a feast of sound and spark,
the night's a wild, enchanted park.
Welcome to the night!

Red Knit Cap Girl - Naoko Stoop

Illustrated by the author
2012, Megan Tingley Books/Little Brown Co.
32 pgs.
HC $15.99
Goodreads: 3.87
I liked it a lot (4)

Endpapers:  Blue wash on wooden board, speckles of white paint - NIGHT SKY
Illutstrations:  Acrylic, ink, and pencil on plywood.  No white.  Simple.  Beautiful.  Eyes are dots.  Backgrounds are gorgeous washes of color..
1st sentence/s:  "In the forest, there is time to wonder about everything.  Red Knit Cap Girl wonders about flowers, butterflies, leaves, and clouds."

Red Knit Cap Girl wonders about the moon and how to talk to her.  She tries different way,s appealing to Mr. Owl ,and with the help with animals friends, discovers that if the night is dark enough, the sky is gorgeous.

I wasn't completely enchanted with the story, but the premise -- and the illustrations -- are just lovely.  What a nice book to share with a young child at bedtime, then, with the lights off, gaze out the window at a clear sky.

Illustrator:  Naoko Stoop grew up in Japan and now lives in NYC.  She participated in "Earth Hour" (shutting off the lights for one hour), realizing how easy it is to enjoy the beauty around us.

Little Owl's Night - Divya Srinivasan

Illustrated by the author
2011, Viking
HC $16.99
Goodreads rating:  3.77
My rating:  5 - I really loved it
32 pages

Endpapers:  Both are different - FRONT:  raccoon and squirrel in tree, huge black sky, BACK: raccoon sleeping and squirrel gathering acorns, both at the base of the tree, daytime.
1st Line/s (Actually, 1st three double-page spreads):  "Little Owl was having a wonderful night./He watched the funny possum family waddle along in a neat row./By the river, beavers gnawed at trees.  turtle hid in her shell as fireflies danced all around."
Illustrations:  Dark black sky - paper cuts and paint? - hard to say.  I really love 'em...it was the cover illustration that forced me to pick ut up in the first place.
Illustrator:  www.pupae.com . This is her first book.  She loves nighttime and lives in Austin, Texas.

I was just going o take a quick flip through this book to peek at it, but slowed down to admire the illustrations.  Then I went back to read it and discovered some beautiful language.  Font is white on black (which I love).