The Night Our Parents Went Out

When the hipstery parents of two siblings sneak out for a date night, their kids fret about all the bad things that could be happening to them. It falls to babysitter Abby to deflect the kids’ worst-case scenarios, and her imagination is as quick as theirs are. First-time authors Goodman and Kisiel, a husband-and-wife team, run a comedy troupe, and it shows: the children’s exchanges with their babysitter have the freewheeling, anything-goes energy of improv. What if a giant squid attacks during dinner? “Your mom would just braid those tentacles right up!” Evil unicorns, jetpack-wearing ostriches, and a movie theater staffed by vampires are just a few of date-night pitfalls the (unnamed) children envision; newcomer Bui pictures these and other daring escapades in dramatic scenes that resemble storyboards for an animated film. While a night spent worrying might not seem like the best use of one’s time and energy, Goodman and Kisiel suggest that imagination is where the real fun is. Ages 3–7. [em]Authors’ agent: Brian DeFiore, DeFiore and Company. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Dec.) [/em]