By Lemony Snicket illustrated by Jon Klassen
Bibliographic Citation:
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, ©2013
40 pages
ISBN 978-0-316-18748-0
Age recommendation: 3-7 years
Format: Picture Book / Hardcover
Awards/Selection lists:
Annotation: Laszlo is afraid of the dark which lives in the same big, creaky house as him, until one night the dark pays him a visit.
Review: In the big, creaky house lives Lazlo. Along with Lazlo lives the dark. Sometimes the dark hid in places that Lazlo would go, like the closet or behind the shower curtain; but mostly the dark kept to itself in the basement until night, that is. Every morning, Lazlo would open the basement door with the hopes that if he visited the dark, the dark wouldn’t bother visiting him in his room. He’d say “Hi, hi dark.”
Of course, one night, when the night light burned out, the dark entered Lazlo’s room. But only to gently beckon him to the basement (flashlight in Lazlo’s hand, of course) where he finds a replacement light bulb in a friendly looking bottom dresser. After an eye-opening argument for how the dark allows us to see the stars, a dark closet houses your shoes and of course, without the dark (the story’s finest moment) “you would never know if you needed a lightbulb.” Ever after, the dark, who proved to be friendly and helpful “never bothered him again.”
While the theme is familiar, what’s most striking is the persona of the dark comes to life with the text and even more with illustrator Jon Klassen’s use of black negative space on the page. Digital illustrations with gouache base in a muted palette give a solid sense of the dark’s character and sets a quiet and initially unsettling tone. Young readers will enjoy revisiting this story for its comforting message, though the pace is uneven at times. Overall, it will engage and of course, enlighten.
Themes/Issues: Fear of the dark
Early Literacy Skill Value:
Print Motivation: Young readers will enjoy the suspense and friendly connection made by a boy and his fear of the dark.
Vocabulary: Encourages vocabulary learning through generous use of descriptive words.
Print Awareness: Clear, appropriately sized text set off of contrasting backgrounds encourage print awareness.
Narrative Skills: Playful placement of text in short sentences will develop print and narrative skills.
Phonological Awareness: N/A
Letter Knowledge: N/A
Author/illustrator website: http://www.lemonysnicket.com