Tacoma School District #10
"A very cute story that is interspersed with outer space facts."
Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group
"An interesting book that introduces the concept of night turning into day...The lyrical story has a wonderful vocabulary that imparts information in a unique way. The illustrations by Ninon Pelletier are outstanding and are a great visual aid to the concepts presented."
Resource Links
"Told in rhyming verse, the rhythm is jaunty and the language is imaginative. Fun as a read-aloud, this book could also be used to introduce astronomy to young students."
Quill & Quire
"Carter uses bouncy rhyming verse to tell the tale of a nightly game of hide-and-seek between Princess Day and her little brother, Prince Night...Pelletier's illustrations feature rich colours, exaggerated, cartoon-like characters, and sweet whimsical details...A great choice for bedtime-averse kids and for aspiring stargazers. Many galactic favourites make an appearance, including the Orion and Pegasus constellations, the aurora borealis, and the North Star, providing a jumping-off point for discussions of basic astronomy. The story ends gently, as the best bedtime stories do, with the promise of another game tomorrow."
Montreal Review of Books
"What better story to tell at bedtime than one that ends with a young child tucked cozily between the covers, fast asleep?...Pelletier uses rich shades of deep blue to depict the night sky filled with glimmering stars and there are some interesting opportunities here for parents to introduce their children to facts about the celestial skies."
CM Magazine
"There is an unmistakable magic to this story. It's a book full of big ideas, wrapped into a simple story that readers can understand and enjoy... An imaginative look at what happens after the sun goes down and showcases how, even in the darkness of space, happiness and fun can abound. This cute story will appeal to a variety of readers and will make a nice addition to picture book collections. Highly Recommended."
Children's Literature - Miranda McClain
There are countless places to hide when the playing field is the heavens and it seems time will run out before Night can find his big sister Day in their nightly game of hide-and-seek, especially when he is so easily distracted. It is not long before he is so busy playing and creating constellations with the stars in his sack that he has completely forgotten to search for his more responsible older sibling. It is not until he hears her calling him that he remembers their game but by then there is only time to clean up his mess before he must go to bed. Readers will enjoy Night's antics as he plays along with his teddy bear sidekick and children will surely take delight in this lively story. They will hardly notice being taught the names of several heavenly bodies throughout the lovely verse and the bright cheery illustrations that only add to the books obvious appeal. This book would work well in a unit about opposites, space or time. Reviewer: Miranda McClain
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—Before going to bed, Night, portrayed as a little boy, plays hide-and-go-seek with his big sister, Day. Accompanied by his teddy bear and carrying bagfuls of stars (and some milk and cookies), he hops into his spaceship and races off to find her. As he searches, he arranges the stars into constellations and creates the Milky Way by dropping his snacks. Ultimately, he fails to find Day, but she calls him back to their house, tucking him in upon his return and promising to play again after he wakes up. Painted predominantly in purples and blues, the acrylic spreads attempt to offer a sweeping portrayal of Night's journey. However, the cartoon-styled characters' glazed, staring eyes; oversize heads; and generally static expressions ruin any charm this rhyming story may have had. Sprinkled throughout are a few Post-it-like notes from Day. These vignettes offer a diagram of the phases of the Moon, a compass rose, and the direction of the sun's travel throughout the sky (a brief nonfiction note about the day/night cycle would have been considerably more useful). Mixed metaphors and the uneven quality of the illustration make this book additional at best.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY
Kirkus Reviews
A story that imagines Night and Day as siblings at play becomes mired in a muddled attempt to do too many things at once. Night is a prince who chases his older sister, Day, across the sky in a game of hide-and-seek. In a spaceship loaded with comets and stars, he and his teddy bear paint the sky with constellations. Brightly colored, cartoon-like artwork sets the stage for fun, with the sleepy, befuddled prince forgetting, as he does each night, that he's supposed to be hunting for his sister. Astronomical elements are thrown into the text and illustrations almost as an instructional afterthought, too often missing the mark. Picture books in rhyme ought to be a pleasure to read aloud, but here the forced meter makes it hard to establish a natural cadence. Where the rhyme does scan properly, it results in heavy, plodding verse that often weakens the story: "The spaceship takes off with a plug-your-ears boom / and blasts into space with a hold-on-tight zoom. / Teddy's distracted. He just wants his snack. / Milk and fresh cookies smell good in the back." Not up to the standard Carter set in her previous award-winning outings (Under a Prairie Sky, 2004, etc.). (Picture book. 4-7)
