The Elephant That Ate the Night

The baby animals in the Black Mushroom Forest are afraid of the dark and their mothers are desperate for help. When a special elephant arrives with a unique talent – he can eat the dark night – they see a glimmer of hope. Can he help the baby animals overcome their nighttime fears?

As he travels around the forest, the elephant eats the night's darkness, turning everything as bright as day. As a result, the children play all day and night, not knowing when it's time for bed. Everyone is exhausted, including the mothers. They beg the elephant to return the dark nights. When he does, the children discover the night is needed and not as scary as they once thought.

Bing Bai is a children's author and a member of the Chinese Writers' Association. His work has won the National Excellence in Children's Literature Award, the Bing Xin Children's Literacy Prize, and the Chen Bo Chui Children's Literature Award.

Qingyue Li, also known as Qingqing LI, illustrates specifically for children’s picture books. When she’s not illustrating, she travels. She “collects” fresh suns, pieces of clouds, rain, cloth, threads and stones and thinks about how to put these things into her paintings.