THE DARK WAS DONE

After being snubbed by the public, the Dark leaves.

It’s hard enough being the Dark without having to constantly hide from the general populace. After all, everyone’s afraid of the Dark, even a little red-haired boy who loves the sounds the crickets make. Taking the hint, the Dark leaves the world, and initially everyone rejoices. But soon, the boy misses the crickets’ songs, the owls, the bats, and the stars—which, his parents explain, were “gifts of the Dark.” So the boy takes off to find the Dark. Along the way he collects others who also wish to bring back those aspects of nighttime they miss, like a sense of mystery and night-blooming jasmine. The Dark and the world give one another a chance, and the boy learns to welcome and love the thing that scared him so much before. The visual pop between the velvety blue-black darkness and the canary yellow of daytime is one of the finer aspects of this gentle lesson in facing fears. Child readers with their own qualms about nighttime may find comfort in a Dark that hugs, smiles, and enfolds owls, stars, and flowers. All told, this is a decent companion to The Dark (2013) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen, or The Night Eater by Ana Juan (2004). The boy and his mother are light-skinned, his father presents Black, and other characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Bedtime fears? Meet your match in this tale of a cuddly, anthropomorphized darkness.