NIGHT OWL

Yuly’s latest, a companion to her debut, Early Bird (2014), introduces a young owl who’s listening for his mommy’s return.

There’s bravado in Night Owl’s demeanor: He “likes to stay up late.” He “waves good-bye to the sun” and “hoots hello to the moon.” But when Night Owl notices Mommy Owl’s absence, uncertainty creeps in. He encounters many sounds as he flies, searching. Yuly’s simple text introduces onomatopoeic words like “tap,” “toot,” “chirp” and “croak” and the refrain, “Is that Mommy Owl?” Night Owl learns that these sounds are variously too short, long, high or low to belong to Mommy Owl. He discovers their sources along with the child listener: woodpecker, train, cricket and toad. Night Owl flies home in a gathering storm that makes its own unnerving sounds. Tucked in his nest, his eyes widen as thunder booms; a little tuft of feathers near his forehead sticks straight up. Yet the safety of home enables him to wait bravely until Mommy Owl’s reassuring return. Yuly’s stylized pen, ink and digital compositions employ lavender and blue-violet to convey the inky dark. Clouds scud across the full moon before the storm; twinkling stars wreath it afterward. Design elements include crisp white text type; sunset-gold and blue-black endpapers, front and back respectively, complete the package.

This charming exploration of sound words will stand up to repeat bedtime reads for young preschoolers.