Genres
Collection
Description
A mother rabbit and her young bunny are on their way home in the dark night. The young bunny ponders the activities of his neighbors in their homes, he wonders about the sights, smells, and sounds coming from the neighbors going about their evening. When they reach home, the father rabbit tucks the bunny into bed as he enjoys the comforts of nighttime in the city.
Publication
Kids Can Press (2017), 32 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member pammycats
The Way Home in the Night
By: Akiko Miyakoshi
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley and Kids Can Press in exchange for my honest review.
This author/ illustrator has a true gift for evoking emotion with sparse language and life-filled pictures.
Storyline:
Bunny and mom are walking home. As they pass
Illustrations:
The illustrations are done in pencil, charcoal and acrylic. The sidewalks and buildings are smoky, smudgy grays and blacks with shadows stroking through. The windows are bright creamy and yellow shots of light often revealing people inside. If kids look carefully they can see into the different homes as Bunny and his mom (and then dad too) walk home. After Bunny gets tucked into bed (by dad) he revisits everything they saw. The reader enters the various rooms. What I loved about these pictures was the sense of activity being played off camera. In one scene, bunnies are waving goodbye to party guests. They are leaning over the edge of the railing and the reader sees the departing guests from the viewpoint of the bunny hosts. The reader also often sees the characters and rooms from a small bunny perspective. That is, we are looking up. Everything looks very interesting. My favorite set of illustrations is at the very end. Bunny is laying in bed and hears someone walking down the street. He envisions that it is the elderly bunny seen hugging someone goodbye earlier in the day. We don't actually have any information about these characters but the reader uses the pictures to flesh out the story. At the very end, we see this elderly bunny taking the last train home. It is beautiful, and a little sad, a little cozy, and a little bit sleepy.
Overall:
I highly recommend this beautifully conceptualized and illustrated book. I checked on Amazon and this author/ illustrator has two other books available that sound equally interesting.
By: Akiko Miyakoshi
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley and Kids Can Press in exchange for my honest review.
This author/ illustrator has a true gift for evoking emotion with sparse language and life-filled pictures.
Storyline:
Bunny and mom are walking home. As they pass
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buildings, Bunny can see the scenes within. After Bunny is in bed for the night he/ she (gender is not specified so from now on I will default to "he") remembers each glimpsed scene and fills in the story for each.Illustrations:
The illustrations are done in pencil, charcoal and acrylic. The sidewalks and buildings are smoky, smudgy grays and blacks with shadows stroking through. The windows are bright creamy and yellow shots of light often revealing people inside. If kids look carefully they can see into the different homes as Bunny and his mom (and then dad too) walk home. After Bunny gets tucked into bed (by dad) he revisits everything they saw. The reader enters the various rooms. What I loved about these pictures was the sense of activity being played off camera. In one scene, bunnies are waving goodbye to party guests. They are leaning over the edge of the railing and the reader sees the departing guests from the viewpoint of the bunny hosts. The reader also often sees the characters and rooms from a small bunny perspective. That is, we are looking up. Everything looks very interesting. My favorite set of illustrations is at the very end. Bunny is laying in bed and hears someone walking down the street. He envisions that it is the elderly bunny seen hugging someone goodbye earlier in the day. We don't actually have any information about these characters but the reader uses the pictures to flesh out the story. At the very end, we see this elderly bunny taking the last train home. It is beautiful, and a little sad, a little cozy, and a little bit sleepy.
Overall:
I highly recommend this beautifully conceptualized and illustrated book. I checked on Amazon and this author/ illustrator has two other books available that sound equally interesting.
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LibraryThing member melodyreads
quiet, gentle bed time story ...
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Japanese author/illustrator Akiko Miyakoshi, whose picture-book The Tea Party in the Woods was translated into English 2015, produces another breathtakingly beautiful work here. A young bunny, being carried through the nighttime streets by her mother, observes brief moments in the lives of others,
Originally published in Japan in 2015, and in this English translation in 2017, The Way Home in the Night was chosen as one of The New York Times' best illustrated children's books of 2017, and it is not difficult to see why. Miyakoshi's artwork, done in pencil, charcoal and acrylic gouache, is simply lovely, capturing the beauty and mystery of the night, adeptly playing with light and darkness, and skillfully contrasting the outdoor and indoor scenes. The story here, which is gentle and contemplative, reminded me of of Julia Denos' Windows, which, although very different in style from The Way Home in the Night, also features a child walking through the darkness, catching glimpses of other lives through the lighted windows of the buildings he passes. The storytelling style here will lend itself to bedtime reading, I believe, with a lulling quality that is very appealing. Recommended to fans of Akiko Miyakoshi, in whose number I now count myself, and to anyone looking for beautifully-illustrated, gently-told bedtime tales.
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as she glimpses various scenes through the lighted windows of their businesses and homes. When she gets home herself and her father puts her to bed, she imagines the conclusions to some of what she has seen...Originally published in Japan in 2015, and in this English translation in 2017, The Way Home in the Night was chosen as one of The New York Times' best illustrated children's books of 2017, and it is not difficult to see why. Miyakoshi's artwork, done in pencil, charcoal and acrylic gouache, is simply lovely, capturing the beauty and mystery of the night, adeptly playing with light and darkness, and skillfully contrasting the outdoor and indoor scenes. The story here, which is gentle and contemplative, reminded me of of Julia Denos' Windows, which, although very different in style from The Way Home in the Night, also features a child walking through the darkness, catching glimpses of other lives through the lighted windows of the buildings he passes. The storytelling style here will lend itself to bedtime reading, I believe, with a lulling quality that is very appealing. Recommended to fans of Akiko Miyakoshi, in whose number I now count myself, and to anyone looking for beautifully-illustrated, gently-told bedtime tales.
Show Less
LibraryThing member collinshapiro
this book spotlights acknowledging each member of the community living a very individual life: all through the eyes of the rabbit on its way home. despite all of these differences, the book concludes by observing that "everyone goes home to bed"- suggesting similarity and unity among the difference.
Awards
The White Ravens (2016)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Kids (Picture Books — 2017)
Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids (Picture Books — 2017)
Language
Original language
Japanese
Physical description
32 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
1771386630 / 9781771386630