NIGHT OF THE GARGOYLES - Hardcover

Bunting, Eve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1856022382 ISBN 13: 9781856022385

Publisher: David Bennett Books,, 1995

Synopsis

St. Albans, England; David Bennett Books; 1995; First United Kingdom Edition; 11 1/2"H x 8 1/2"W; Hardcover; As New in Near Fine dust jacket; Grey Reiorced Hardcover;; When night comes, the gargoyles creep on stubbs of feet along the high ledges. They swoop down to hunch with gargoyle friends around the fountain and mock the watchman as he passes by. Eve Bunting's lyrical yet humourous text and David Wiesner's rich monochrome illustrations join forces to create a marvellously spooky book. (Great, but recomended for adults and hard to scare children.)

About this title

About the Author

Eve Bunting has written over two hundred books for children, including the Caldecott Medal-winning Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz, The Wall, Fly Away Home, and Train to Somewhere. She lives in Southern California.

David Wiesner is internationally renowned for his visual storytelling and has won the Caldecott Medal three times—for Tuesday, The Three Pigs, and Flotsam—the second person in history to do so. He is also the recipient of three Caldecott Honors, for Free Fall, Sector 7, and Mr. Wuffles. He lives near Philadelphia with his family. Visit him online at hmhbooks.com/wiesner. 

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-What child hasn't looked at a sculpture or creatures carved in stone and wondered what would happen if they came to life? Bunting's canny phrasing and Wiesner's ominous black-and-white illustrations answer the question perfectly. When night comes, the gargoyles on a museum building come alive. They "gargoyle-hunch" with friends around a fountain, "rumble-laugh" at the night watchman, and resume their stone facades with empty eyes unblinking when morning arrives. If anyone could bring gargoyles to life pictorially, it's Wiesner. High-rise angles and perspectives are peopled with pigeons and squirrels; light is played against dark, forming menacing shadows; spreads and panels zoom in on narrow and wide-angle views; all creating a delicously eerie, spooky scenario. The brief text cunningly induces liveliness and wit with well-honed word choices: "they grunt of what they've seen...they grump of summer passing...they boom those gargoyle laughs that rumble thick because there is no space inside their solid stone for laughs to somersault." This is not for very young children, but it's sure to have enormous appeal for older audiences. From stony-eyed stares to their merry scorn of humans, it's gargoyle gleefulness.
Julie Cummins, New York Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: David Bennett Books,
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1856022382
• ISBN 13: 9781856022385
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32