Review: Donna Jo Napoli and Felicita Sala Whisper Goodnight in As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After Dark

Nighttime is anything but quiet in As Night Falls: Creatures that Go Wild After Dark, a picture book by Donna Jo Napoli in which owls, spiders, and even restless children not quite ready for sleep come alive when the sun goes down. Illustrations in gauche and pastel by Felicita Sala in Fauvist shades of lime, magenta, and dandelion illuminate nighttime scenes. But the star of this book is Napoli’s poetry, which swells with alliteration as she speaks of children who “nestle sweetly into sleep without a whisper”. She makes palpable the hush and hum of the night. Part poem, part science lesson, part bedtime story, As Night Falls is a genre-bending book. Readers looking for information about creatures like dinoflagellates and spot-bellied eagle owls will not be disappointed, nor will those looking for the soothing lyricism of a book about falling asleep. But As Night Falls is no normal bedtime book. Its vivid prose and illustrations brim with drama, suspense, and a little bit of fear as a ferocious tiger corners its prey. But Sala softens these unsettling undertones with pictorial connections between the predators and the reader. She dresses the child in tiger pajamas, and gives her eyes just like the tiger’s. As Night Falls serves as a foil to moralistic tropes peddling obedient children. Napoli normalizes, and even celebrates, the rambunctious spirits of her young readers. She invites children to “go wild” and reminds parents that such outbursts indicate not disobedience but hunger for one last snuggle or story before the inevitable goodnight. Both suspenseful and soothing, As Night Falls: Creatures that Go Wild After Dark is a fresh choice to read to restless children, perhaps even during a camping trip or outdoor adventure. Pair this book with a nighttime walk to listen for owls or search for spiders spinning their evening webs, and wonder at the wildness all around.