Marie Swanson's The House in the Night is a winner of The Caldecott Medal, and a beautiful interpretation of an old nursery rhyme. The story is told through short sentences in large font, so as not to overwhelm newer readers. The details of the story are really told through the pictures, so be prepared to spend some time studying each picture before turning the page. The pictures are primarily black and white, made up of thousands of lines creating shading and mimicking the dark of nighttime. The only color throughout the book is a golden hue assigned to the moon and shining off specific objects for emphasis.
Although the story seems simple in its words, the message is much more complex, as it shows the interconnectivity of everything in the night; "On the moon's surface shines the sun. Sun in the moon, moon in the dark, dark in the song, song in the bird." The book takes a unique approach showing many different perspectives and eventually moving full circle. With the detailed pictures, symbolism, and message of oneness, your child will likely get something more out of this book each time you read it together.
My friend, Nick, is captivated by the pictures in The House in the Night. He loves to draw and has taken to imitating the style of pictures in this book, using multiple small lines, rather than coloring in sections, for shading. He also uses primarily black and only one color per picture. Sure, his pictures aren't quite as finely detailed as the book, but if Nick keeps this up, he will be quite the artist when he grows up!
--Audra
