Turn on the Night

A giddy sense of possibility permeates this enchanting wordless story. Valério (My Book of Birds) opens with an overhead view of more than a dozen homes, clustered in a field of supernaturally green grass underneath an inky night sky. Zooming in brings readers closer to one home, where a dog and chicken sleep outside, and into the bedroom of a girl asleep in her bed, a chicken doll in one arm and a book (this one) in the other. A page turn finds the girl transformed into a giant white wolf that soars out the window and then bounds across the grass. A chicken and a deer join up with the wolf, and together they run, howl at the heavens, and pluck a giant star from the sky, which sets the girl’s bedroom aglow with celestial light after the adventure is done. Dwelling in images of sinuous animals, sweeping landscapes, and the sheer joy of running for the sake of running, Valério’s paint and pencil artwork almost vibrates with the idea that not even the sky is the limit in one’s dreams. Ages 4–up. (Sept.)