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Reviews of Noises at Night
The Reading Tub [pdf]
Parents'
Choice Foundation, Fall 2005
Usually, children's books about things that go bump
in the night take one of two directions: The monster-under-the-bed
plot or the it's-only-a-shadow approach. So it's refreshing
to read Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner's Noises
At Night,
in which a wide-awake boy decides that nocturnal sounds are
actually invitations to play. That dripping faucet? A pirate
ship at sea. The hissing radiator? Only a snake he's charmed
to sleep. The story is told in brisk rhyme as the little boy
moves from adventure to adventure, and Bruce Whatley's light-on-dark
acrylics add both action and humor (check out the Indiana Jones
allusion). This book is an entertaining tuck-in read, and may
also comfort young children who fear nighttime noises. Who
knows, those mysterious sounds you hear upstairs after bedtime
could turn out to be adventures in the making.
Kirkus, starred review, October 1, 2005
Nighttime, with all its shadows and sounds, can be disconcerting
for even the most lion-hearted. In this tale, as the moonlight
touches a little boy's quilt, he says, "I hear noises
at night," as his and his dog's ears perk up. "I
like to pretend when I shut off the light, / The noises turn
into adventures at night!" --and thus the color palette
changes from blues to brights. The sounds are first identified,
and then imagined scenarios come into play. A vroom of a passing
truck becomes the youngster flying a plane. The tick-tock of
the clock becomes the trotting of a horse as the boy rides
out west. One of the best spreads is prompted by the hiss of
the heater. It shows the youngster wrapped in a snake's puffy
coils, the background ablaze in orange, but the snake's eyes
show that it is completely charmed by the boy's flute playing.
The expansive illustrations, in dazzling acrylics, amuse and
enchant. This tale is a wonderful way to ease bedtime fears
and may even result in children creating their own soothing
game.
Publisher's
Weekly, August, 2005
"Wide-eyed and alert, an unnamed boy narrator describes on rhyming verse
the sounds that "float through my house." The first two are pale blue
and shadowy black spreads that evoke a mood of eerie quiet. But when the boy
reveals his strategy for warding off fear ("I like to pretend when I shut
off the light,/The noises turn into adventures at night!), cheerful reds and
whites brighten a humorous illustration of a nervous dog sitting atop the boy's
head, and the fun begins. A dripping faucet launches a watery fantasy: "I'm
a sea captain now/I skim over the waves that slap onto the bow."; a hissing
furnace becomes a snake that he'll charm into a trance. Each anxiety-making sound
sparks a fantasy in which the empowered child, wearing a range of costumes (and
teddy bear in tow), takes control of the situation. Whatley's action-packed
illustrations unfold against a background of thick, swirling brushstrokes, exuding
an exuberant charm. At long last, the boy's eyelids close, and the "sound
of the quiet now puts me to sleep." Readers with nighttime anxieties
may well find this story's playful coping strategy a helpful model."
Midwest Book Review, September 2005
Reviewer's Choice
"Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner's
Noises At Night...presents a rhyming bedtime book teaching
kids that going to sleep can be fun. Bruce Whatley provides
the whimsical drawings as a young boy, dog and teddy bear by
his side, uses his imagination to turn night noises into exciting
new activities. An inspirational nap-time
book which also offers some unusual career options for kids
to think about."
School Library Journal, September 2005
A bedtime story with
a new twist, told in jaunty rhymed couplets. A boy describes the noises he hears
at night, but instead of being frightened by them, he dreams
up wild adventures for himself and his teddy bear suggested
by the various drips, taps, and creaks. The hiss of the heater
is a snake that he has charmed, the vroom of a truck is the
roar of his plane, and the boom of thunder becomes the drum
roll for his circus trapeze act. The last sound is the "SHHH, SHHHHHH" of
the quiet that puts him to sleep. Instead
of a fearful and anxious protagonist, the authors present a
boy who handles scary situations with a clever coping strategy.
Whatley's spirited acrylic spreads incorporate delightful bits
of humor, such as the nervous pet dog that acts as a comic
foil to the brave boy. While this tale does not have the calming
verse and quiet reassurance of standard bedtime fare, it is
a welcome departure from the formula. Pair it with Laura Simms's The Squeaky Door
(Random, 1991) for a storytime featuring bumps in the night.
-Rachel
G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Press
Sudbury Town Crier, July 28, 2005
West
Harford News, August 4, 2005
Stoughton
Journal, November 25, 2005
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