| The cbr12bingo No Money! slot is the easiest one for me. Reader copies are scattered all over my workspace! It’s a miracle I can get anything done. And one freebie was this classic Tomie dePaola picture book. |
Fight the Night is an early Tomie dePaola work released back in February for today’s fan. While you know it is dePaola, the art is less polish than his later work. This is because the book is created in an “old school” art format with actually very little color. There is a letter from the author explaining why things look the way they do. The story is a work of imagination and creativity and most likely based on dePaola himself as the child of the book is precocious enough!
We first saw this book of a young child who hates having to go to bed in 1968. But little has changed in the way kids and bedtime interact. The night is not the narrator’s friend and he will do anything he can to fight it. He wants to stay up and play with his friends. The clever voices of the child and Night intertwine to show this battle of will and wits. They both do battle, hit and miss at trying to conquer their opponent, until finally a victor comes forth. The ending is a tad bit of a twist, but also, one the adult reader will see coming.
It is not a book for everyone (I admit, part of the ending was less than satisfying for me), but everyone can enjoy. Though I would say it is best for the four to seven-year-old. Also, this would be a great gift for the adult who has fondly grown up with dePaola and is sad that they will not be getting more new works from their forever favorite illustrator and author.