The House in the Night

        

         

           Picture Book # 9

           AUTHOR:  Susan Marie Swanson

           ILLUSTRATOR:  Beth Krommes

           GENRE: Picture Book

           SUB GENRE: Fiction

 THEME: Bedtime, sleep and dreams.

 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CHARACTERS: 

 A boy, his mom and dad

AWARD(S): Caldecott Medal 2009.

DATE OF PUBLICATION AND PUBLISHER: 2008, Houghton Mifflin Company.

SUMMARY:   The beautiful scratch board illustrations in this book are what first drew me to it.  The colors used throughout the book are black, white and yellow.  It is a comforting bedtime story all about bedtime and everything it encompasses.   I think it is the perfect book for children who are afraid of the dark.  A concise explanation is given about how sunlight reflects off the moon at night and comes into the little boy’s room.  The book explains that even though the lamp is turned off, the home is filled with other sources of light. I enjoyed the simplicity of this book.

HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS BOOK AS A TEACHER:  This is a perfect read aloud book.  I would read it to my students simply for pleasure.