Re-read (Pajama Storytime) May 2024

Laszlo is afraid of the dark, though he often goes down to the basement to say hello to it, thinking that if he visits the dark there, the dark won't visit him in his room at night. But one night, the dark does visit Laszlo, and invites him to come downstairs...into the basement...and open the bottom drawer in the chest of shelves...which is full of light bulbs! Klassen's stark art and Snicket's whimsically ominous (or ominously whimsical) text pair perfectly here. ( )

I think my daughter asked to read this book 4 or 5 times a week for many weeks after we bought it.

There are much more eloquent reviews below, but you know it's a good book when a 3 year old is obsessed with it. I love the idea that we need the dark to appreciate the light, and that darkness cannot be escaped. It's everywhere, even when we close our eyes. ( )

As with, [b:I Want My Hat Back|11233988|I Want My Hat Back|Jon Klassen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327888784s/11233988.jpg|16160067], I'm just not diggin' the creepy vibe in this picture book. I don't dislike all creepy picture books. I loved [b:Creepy Carrots|13259987|Creepy Carrots!|Aaron Reynolds|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326317589s/13259987.jpg|18461490] and [b:Lester's Dreadful Sweaters|14431301|Lester's Dreadful Sweaters|K.G. Campbell|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363130592s/14431301.jpg|20073368], for example. But this just struck me as weird and disturbing, especially how the dark talks to the little boy. It might be fun to read aloud to a group of older kids, but I'll tell you something I see again and again: it's really hard to get older kids to read picture books. Most of the time, once a kid hits 2nd or 3rd grade, they are done with so-called "baby" books.

Even with two great names attached to it, I can't say I'm a big fan of this book. ( )

Genre
Picture books for children
Tone
Quiet
Suspenseful
Illustration
Cartoony
Muted
Theme
Overcoming fear
Subject
Basements
Boys
Fear in children
Fear of darkness
Light and darkness
Night

Freaking fantastic. Perfectly rides the creepy line to deliver some relief from fear. Beautiful, beautiful book in both text and image. ( )