DAYTIME NIGHTTIME

An extremely simple text describes animals a rural child might see in the daytime and nighttime.

Except for a prefatory “What you see in the daytime?” (and a corresponding query for nighttime), the text rarely exceeds one word per spread. In the daytime, a child (a relatively light-skinned little girl with long hair and bangs) might see butterflies, robins, bumblebees, grasshoppers, red-tailed hawks, beavers, rabbits and puppies (as well as the sun). Spread by spread, Low’s painterly digital illustrations depict the animals described (in most cases, just one of each, despite consistently plural labels). A robin tugs at a worm; a grasshopper perches on a blade of grass; a red-tailed hawk soars, silhouetted against a blue sky. Nighttime animals include fireflies, bats, an owl, a frog, raccoons and teddy bears (the child is seen slumbering with an obviously beloved bear clutched in her arms, other stuffed animals gazing benignly from the margin of her bed). Except for the potential confusion between plural labels and singular animals and the fact that the bumblebee as depicted doesn’t look as satisfyingly round as children likely imagine them, it’s a lovely way to introduce children to the natural world, reminiscent of some of Jim Arnosky’s books for the very youngest children.

Calm and soothing—a nonthreatening backyard adventure