The Bunny’s Night-Light: A Glow-in-the-Dark Search

Hayes’s (the Benny and Penny books) sweet bedtime book has gentle, repetitive prose that tells the story of Bunny and her Papa, who go searching for a nightlight. Bunny objects to all the lights they find (the moon is “too bright,” the stars “too twinkly,” the fireflies “too busy”) until Mama presents Bunny with the perfect nightlight, which casts comforting shadows on the wall. The book’s lilting rhythms end with a poem that ties into the book’s underlying, reassuring message that while nighttime may seem dark, “[T]here’s always a light somewhere.” Just right for the subject matter, Hayes’s cartoons are, as usual, friendly and warm, including cozy village scenes surrounded by a gray-blue border filled with images of clouds, bedtime reading, and the night sky. Throughout the book, various light sources—those mentioned in the story and others—are treated with a glow-in-the-dark coating. While the gimmick is likely to please young readers, having to repeatedly turn the lights on and off (in order to appreciate the phosphorescent effect) may make for some slow-glowing bedtime reading. Ages 3–6. (Jan.)