Beatrice Likes the Dark while her sister Roo loves the light. Neither can understand the other’s love of spiders, cellars, stars (Beatrice), or the sun, flowers, and the days joys (Roo). But when Roo admits to being afraid of the dark, Beatrice does what any good big sister would do, and gives her a special piece of magic. Learning to appreciate and love each other (even if they cannot get behind the other’s personal tastes), the sisters create a happy medium.
April Genevieve Tucholke’s text is comfortable, and poetic. And while it was not a story with an OMG Best Book Ever mentality for me, I did appreciate it. I do think
that one should be sitting cozy with little distraction around them, except for the child you are reading to. It might word as a group read-aloud, but a one-on-one might be better. It is the illustrations of Khoa Le that really blew me away.
The colors are deep, rich, and sharp even when we explore the night, the attic or seeing the shadows. The bold, strong colors of the day and light are equally rich, and both are supportive of the text and are stand alone. I preferred the night or the darker images (there are several adorable spiders, the black cat is fuzzy, and the moon and stars are cool to the eye). And I adored the fact that Beatrice wears black underwear with white bats on them (we do not see those, but it was a nice touch). But Roo’s bright world is equally delightful.
Part fairy-tale and part sibling story, this is a great treat for ages five and up.