THE NIGHT GIANT

In this French import, a benign blue behemoth traipses through a sleeping town.

The Night Giant emerges only when everyone is asleep. But the mischief he makes is noticeable by day: He switches the roofs of houses, straps cars to his feet to go roller-skating, and piles up park benches. This placidly playful picture book offers simple, matter-of-fact depictions of these spectacular feats, pausing at points to imagine where the Giant might go during the day. Aside from one brightly lit scene where he lounges in a fire-filled room (does he live at the Earth’s center?), the spots where he rests are, like the rest of the book, coolly lit, whether he’s floating like a feather in the sky or camouflaging himself in the curves of a faraway mountain. As morning arrives, the Giant departs calmly, hand in hand with an even taller guardian. Trusting in its own dreamlike logic, Coltellacci’s text is satisfyingly sparse, allowing restful readers space to reflect. Visually, the nighttime blues that define the tale's aesthetic deftly integrate golden glowing windows, shimmering silvery water, and the brilliant bright white of a full moon. With his wide eyes, hornlike ears, fuzzy face, and rotund body, the Night Giant evokes the playfulness of Hayao Miyazaki’s Totoro, but his curious, piercing gaze recalls Joanna C. and Paul Galdone’s Tailypo, a far eerier nocturnal menace.

A simple story that spotlights a playful monster and celebrates the comforting contours of the world at night.