Once Upon a Northern Night - Hardcover

Jean E. Pendziwol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 140636245X ISBN 13: 9781406362459

Publisher: Walker Books, 2015

Synopsis

It started with one tiny flake, perfect and beautiful and special, just like you. Then there were two, and then three. In this enchanting, lyrical lullaby brought to life by award-winning illustrator Isabelle Arsenault, the beauty of a northern night unfolds as a young child sleeps. Wrapped in a snug, downy blanket, a snowflake falls, and then another and another. Soon the magic of the night outside takes hold - animals awaken, snow swirls, stars twinkle and winds whisper. A mixture of magic, wildlife and deep comfort, tip-toe through the pages of this beautiful bedtime read-aloud, and try not to break the spell of the peaceful, quiet, wintry north.

About this title

About the Author:

Jean E. Pendziwol is the author of several highly acclaimed picture books, including Dawn Watch and The Red Sash, illustrated by Nicolas Debon, and Marja’s Skis, illustrated by Jirina Marton. She was inspired to write this book by the long but beautiful northern nights in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she lives with her family.

Isabelle Arsenault is a very talented Quebec illustrator, who has garnered an impressive number of awards and international recognition. She has illustrated several books, including Le coeur de monsieur Gauguin (Governor General’s Award) and My Letter to the World and Other Poems (Governor General’s Award Finalist, IRA Children’s Choices), and she has won the Grand Prix for illustration (Magazines du Québec) for six years running.

From School Library Journal:

PreS-Gr 1-In a dark room, a child lies sleeping in a cozy bed, while the unnamed narrator (parent? Mother Nature?) describes the silently majestic landscape of the northern night as it unfolds beyond the child's window. Snow covers the pine trees that "[hold] out prickly hands to catch the falling flakes," nocturnal animals visit the backyard in search of food, frost coats the windows and the pond. Arsenault's full-page and double-page mixed-media illustrations (pencil, gouache, watercolor and ink) have a 1940s feel, a perfect accompaniment to the soothing tone of Pendizwol's lyrical text with its restful "Once upon a northern night" refrain. Bursts of color highlight a branch here, some red fruits there, the green of the Northern Lights, an owl's startling yellow eyes, in an otherwise black, gray, and white palette, building to the crescendo of the last spread-the lavender and white brilliance of a snow-covered panorama with a pop of orange from a fox and some deer. This is a lovely wintry bedtime story, best for sharing one-on-one.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NYα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 140636245X
• ISBN 13: 9781406362459
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 36