February 1, 2019
Bedtime stories are plentiful, but this one is anything but tender and restful.In rhyming verse two kids say good night to all kinds of library items. "Good night, library; / Darkness falls. / It's sleepy time / For these great walls. // Good night, library. / You must be tired / From all the learning / You've inspired." The litany of items the text wishes good night includes poetry and prose, plots, puppet stages, computers, carpet squares, fairy tales, characters, filing cart, and more. This being a fairly modern library, they also bid good night to board games and comic books, but if there is a 3-D printer or makerspace, it goes unremarked. The apparent intent of this homage to libraries is well and good, but the visual execution lacks charm. The cartoonish illustrations are garish double-page spreads that bleed off the pages, and the intensity of the colors makes the pages appear crowded. Exaggeratedly bug-eyed kids act out the rhymes; they are a diverse lot. The librarian, a white woman, wears her hair in a bun but otherwise looks pretty darn hip; she wears a droopy gray sweater, black jeans, and pumps. What could have been a calming bedtime story featuring the variety of things found in a library is spoiled by abrasive artwork. (Picture book. 6-8)
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May 13, 2019
What happens when the library closes after a full day of welcoming readers? It goes to sleep, of course. In the third of a series, child readers—rendered with exaggerated, bulging eyes and exuberant grins that make them look almost creaturely—say good night to their many favorite features of the library, from book genres to reading nooks. Brennan-Nelson’s rhyming verses have a lilting structure: “Good night, poetry./ Good night, prose./ Pull up the covers;/ Off you doze.” And Bucci’s ultravivid graphics come on strong but portray some seriously cool spaces, including a giant interactive chess board, a castle, a puppet theater, and numerous spots to cozy up and read. The book captures the immediacy of a book-lover’s library visit while celebrating all the magic that a library has to offer. Ages 4–8.