At Night

This book is appropriate for kindergarten. I would try to read this book before the children layed down for naptime.

This is a good example of realistic fiction because it is a story of a girl who cannot fall asleep one night while everyone else in her family is asleep, which is a very real-life situation that the students can most likely relate to and empathize with her in that. It is also a good example of

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realistic fiction because the setting is vivid and it is changing and unveiling itself throughout the story. This story has a lot of information about the setting. For instance, the reader knows that it takes place at night because the first two words say, "At night...". Also, we know the parents say goodnight and that everyone else is asleep, and that it is dark outside. At first, she is in her bedroom where it is dark and lonely because she was alone and awake. From there, the place moves to the roof because she decides to make that her new bed. We learn a lot of details from there such as the fact that she is in the city and there is a small breeze in the cool night air, and that she is now out in the open underneath the sky. This description of the setting fits with the theme in that the little girl finds it easiest to fall asleep in this new, beautiful place where she can fall asleep underneath the sky. It also fits with the genre in that it is a realistic place and time. The illustrations in this book are pen and ink and watercolor.

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Age Appropriateness: Primary
Media: Pen and Ink
Genre: Realistic fiction

With a realistic plot this book is a great example of realistic fiction. Everything that takes place within the story is possible and could happen to someone. The main character in the story sometimes likes to sneak up to the

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roof and think of the world all around her. The cool nights are soothing and help her to fall asleep. I think the plot is good because we only get small details on each page and so the reader has to keep reading to find out what is coming. We don’t really know where the girl is heading until the end of the story. It is a setting that is relatable especially to those who live in larger cities. They would understand the relaxing rooftops at night under the stars.

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"At Night By: Jonathan Bean received the "Globe-Horn Picture Book Award " for 2009/2010. The first thing that I loved about this book was the fact that the author dedicated it to his mother. The next thing I loved was the size of the book. he book is very small and non-intimidating for beginning

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readers. There are big squares with illustartions and clear, concise text on the bottom. As a visual learner, I really liked how this book was set up. Also, the author (Jonathan Bean) is also the talented illustrator. Bean graduated with an M.F.A in Visual Arts and it is very apparent in his creative and stylish illustrations. Having said all of the things I loved about the book, I was dissapointed with it's weak storyline. Nothing exciting happens in the story and I think a young reader may be dissapointed in this.

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This is a good example of realistic fiction because it is something that could actually happen. The main character cannot sleep until she goes up to her roof garden and thinks about the world around her.

Age Appropriateness: Primary

This is a good book of realistic fiction, because the plot could happen to someone in the real life. A girl at night couldn't fall into sleep and waited her whole family went to sleep, she decided to move her pillows and sheet to the roof where she could enjoy the whole world. The wind breezed her

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and she quickly fell into sleep while her mother was sitting next to her.
Genre: Realistic Fiction.
Age: Primary
Media: Gouache, Oil Pens.

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Four stars for the lovely artwork, which was the little picture book's strong point. Text/story was so-so, so it's demoted to three stars. Tells of a little girl who can't sleep and goes to the roof of her home where she's able to finally get some sleep. Well, we've all been there.

A soothing bedtime story which is best-suited to lap reading or small audience reading thanks to its small, square size. The illustrations tell a large part of the story here with even the dust jacket and title page getting in on the action. The text is minimal, but carefully selected and well

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paced. The design of the illustrations is subtle but powerful. Pictures of the roof are double page full-bleed spreads giving a sense of the feeling of space and air to be found up high in a city. The illustrations inside the home are sometimes framed with white space with text below and sometimes are a full-bleed page with text on the alternate page. The spread with a close-up of the little girl across from a page holding the single word "AWAKE" gives a clear sense of the little girl's restlessness and lack of comfort in her bed. The color palette is cool blues and greens mixed with warm brown for the walls of the building. Extra bits of the story can be found in the illustrations as we see the little girl's mother wake to follow her child quietly to the roof and children will have fun locating the family cat in several of the spreads. Quiet but charming, overall.

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A little girl is wide awake during the night while everyone else has gone to sleep. She can't go to sleep, but than a gentle breeze comes in through the window and she follows it up onto the roof of the building and falls asleep under the sky

Ages 4-5

Source: Pierce College Library

At night after the family goes to sleep a girl lies awake listening to all the sounds and feeling a breeze. She finally falls asleep.
Ages: 2-4
Source: Pierce College Library

Bean's pictures are so satisfying to look at. There isn't an overabundance of detail, but there is still lots to look at. This family lives in an old apartment building in the city. It's got a flat roof like many others in the neighborhood and the roofs have been claimed as living space. Dining

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areas, lounge chairs, potted plants and laundry lines. And an exceptional view of the cityline and the river.
Thank you Mr. Bean, much appreciated.

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A girl can't sleep in her city home. While everyone in the home is fast asleep she sneaks out onto the roof where she camps out and eventually falls asleep.
5-8
Pierce College Library

Summary: A young girl lays awake in her room at night, as she listens to her mother, father, sister, and breathing quietly breathing. A black cat slips through her windowsill, and the young girl follows the cat up the stairs and out onto the rooftop. She follows the cat with pillows and blankets,

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and makes a bed for herself on the rooftop where she "thought about the wide world." She fell asleep peacefully.

The central message of this book is to use your imagination and appreciate the world around you. I do enjoy the illustrations in this book, as they consume the entire page, although I do not like how their is not much detail in the text. It was very straight forward. I like how the mother followed the child (in the illustrations) as her child went up stairs and onto the rooftop, and I also like how it didn't blatantly say this in the text. This enforces the children to pay close attention to detail.

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Late one night a young girl lies awake in her bed in a city apartment. Listening to the soft breathing of her parents and siblings, she cannot get to sleep herself. Then, feeling a cool breeze from the window, she takes her pillow and blanket up to the roof and finally slips off to sleep under the

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night sky.

This debut title from picture-book author/artist Jonathan Bean, whose subsequent autobiographical stories - Building Our House, This Is My House, This Is My School - were so engaging, offers a sweet reassurance tale to youngsters who may themselves have trouble sleeping from time to time. The text here is spare but effective, and the artwork lovely. I liked that the little girl's mother is aware of her daughter's trip to the roof, and is watchful and alert, allowing her little girl to have her independence, but also ready to protect her if needed - and that all of this is communicated through the artwork alone. Recommended to anyone looking for new bedtime books, or for reassurance stories that depict children solving their own problems, while parents stand ready to offer aid if needed.

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This book is about a girl who can't fall asleep and decides to go watch the stars. This book is a good example of realistic fiction because it is common for people to not be able to fall asleep and appreciate nature.