Good Night, Wind

Striking artwork fashioned from ribbons of crisply cut colored paper enlivens this retelling of a Yiddish folktale. Winter Wind flies into a rage after searching unsuccessfully for a place to sleep, “crying like a child, howling like a dog, wailing like a cat.” No one wants to host the chilly breeze, neither tree nor rock nor country innkeeper. A girl whose brother cries in fright shouts at Wind (“Stop pounding on our windows!”), then realizes that Wind’s fury is really exhaustion. “Wind is acting like a tired, angry baby,” the girl tells her brother, and they find Wind a quiet place to sleep. Marshall (Mommy, Baby, and Me) writes with the force of a gale: “Snow hurtled to the ground and gusted back to the sky, whirling in huge white sheets.” Spreads in autumn reds and winter blues by cut-paper artist Doliveux carry still more energy—gusts blow off Wind’s bulky blue body as sailing ribbons and embossed white paper represents mounds of snow. Discovering that rage can mask other emotions is powerful knowledge, and readers will be drawn to the image of the two children taming a gigantic force. Ages 4–8. [em](Feb.) [/em]