Quiet Night by Marilyn Singer and Illustrated by John Manders

Bibliography
Singer, Marilyn.2002.Quiet Night.Ill by John Manders.New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 0-618-12044-0


Plot Summary
Quiet Night by Marilyn Singer is really not that quiet, which becomes evident as one experiences the many night-time sounds made by the creatures that appear in sequence from page to page. One frog bar-rums, two owls whoo-hoo all the way to ten campers’ yawn-yawn. This was great fun, rhyming words while counting from one to ten.

Critical Analysis
Quiet Night is a wonderful rhyming poem that young children will enjoy listening to and then reading back to you. The nonsensical words like bar-rums, whap-slap and rowl-yowl are quickly remembered and will be repeated again and again. I also like that this is a counting book from one to ten. Rhyming poems and counting go hand in hand. The animals, birds and insects were by far my favorite part of this book. Frogs, owls, raccoons, coyotes and mosquitos, just to name a few, were perfect choices for the forest.
This book is not one to read before bed if you are planning on a soothing transition for sleep because you will have too much fun repeating the animal rhymes again and again.


John Manders illustrated this book with colors that coincide with the theme of a night in the forest. The opening page shows the large yellow moon, blue black background, the large green frog with his mouth open as large as the moon and long pink tongue will make you laugh and convince you to turn the page for more. The eyes of the animals were captured with watchful surprise the way forest animals would react to movement in their habitat. John Manders did a wonderful job with the moon shadows of the geese flying over the pond, the eyes of the animals, playfulness of the raccoons, the camper’s frustration over the noise and the frozen surprise of the forest animals. The illustrations were painted on Arches hot press watercolor paper using Winsor & Newton gouache and Prismacolor pencils.

I feel this is a wonderful book and should be added to your collection of poems for children.

Review Excerpts
From Publishers Weekly
"The moon is big. The moon is bright. A frog bar-rums on a quiet night." But the moonlit woods are actually far from idyllic. With each succeeding spread, Singer (Didi and Daddy on the Promenade) and Manders (Dirt Boy) add cumulatively larger groups of audibly antsy, comically exaggerated animals. "Somebody's got an appetite!" observes a narrator, as the gouaches reveal guilty-looking raccoons chowing down on garbage. These scavengers join a tally of critters ("Six raccoons churr-rurr, Five coyotes rowl-yowl, Four fish whap-slap, Three geese honk-honk, Two owls whoo-hoo," plus the original frog) while the animals' attention moves from general noise-making to approaching a dark tent. The species' convergence triggers a slapstick wildlife melee, which in turn provokes the appearance of "10 sleepy campers" and one very bright flashlight. Singer expertly builds her bumptious population to what should be a boffo finish, but the book ends on a weak note: "What a NOISY night!" Manders initially conveys the magic semi-stillness of a night outdoors; as the landscape gradually becomes standing room only, the rich, darker hues become a wonderful visual foil for the burgeoning, goofy critters who get carried away by just doing what comes naturally. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reSchool-Grade 3--This fantastic counting book will strike a chord with young children and has all the right stuff to become an interactive storytime classic when used with small groups. It begins with a full yellow moon and a frog, and ends with a cacophony of rowdy, rambunctious activity during a night that's anything but quiet. The audience-participation options are almost limitless-the book could work performed as a round, in sequence with a gradually climbing crescendo, with stick puppets, or children could simply chime in whenever onomatopoeia is required. The illustrations are laugh-out-loud funny; Manders's owls don't just hoot, they really get into the action. So do his raccoons, fish, coyotes, and finally his tent full of campers. At last everybody scatters in a frantic, explosive display, leaving the dust to settle against the backdrop of a blue-black, tranquil night. The simple text rhymes nicely and boasts a wonderfully rhythmic cadence. (However, "The grass is white," to rhyme with "night," features green grass in the illustration.) Children will enjoy this delightful picture book for more than the racket it produces. Then again, any opportunity to create a din is always welcome. Buy several copies, and be sure to tuck one away on the storytime shelf.
Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Connections

Other books by Marilyn Singer

Nine O’clock Lullaby ISBN-13: 978-0064433198 ISBN-10: 0064433196

I’m Your Bus ISBN-13: 978-0545089180 ISBN-10: 0545089182

Websites

Marilyn Singer http://www.marilynsinger.net

John Manders http://johnmanders.com


Awards/Honors
Children's Choice Award, International Reading Association, 1977, for The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, 1979, for It Can't Hurt Forever, 1988, for Ghost Host, and 1991, for Nine o'Clock Lullaby; Maud Hart Lovelace Award, Friends of the Minnesota Valley Regional Library, 1983, for It Can't Hurt Forever; American Library Association (ALA) best book for young adults citation, 1983, for The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth; Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Choice Foundation, 1983, for The Fido Frame-Up, and 2001, for A Pair of Wings; New York Times best illustrated children's book citation, and Time best children's book citation, both 1989, Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English, 1990, and Texas Bluebonnet Award nomination, 1992, all for Turtle in July; South Carolina Book Award nomination, 1992-93, for Twenty Ways to Lose Your Best Friend; Iowa Teen Award nomination, 1993, for Charmed; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for the Social Studies and Children's Book Council, 1995, for Family Reunion, and 2000, for On the Same Day in March; Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award nomination, 1996, for Chester the Out-of-Work Dog; Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award nomination, 1997-98, for All We Needed to Say; Society of School Librarians International Best Books, 1997-98, for Deal with a Ghost, 1998-99, for Bottoms Up, and 2001, for Tough Beginnings; Best Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, 1998, for Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, 2001, for I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, and 2005, for Face Relations: Eleven Stories about Seeing beyond Color; Edgar Award nominee, 1998, for Deal with a Ghost; Tayshas List selections, 1998-99; for Deal with a Ghost, and 2001-02, for I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion; Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection, Young Adult Library Services Association, 2000, for Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls; Top Ten Science Books for Children selection, Booklist, 2000, for On the Same Day in March; Animal Behavior Society Award, 2002, for A Pair of Wings; Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students, National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council, 2002, for Tough Beginnings; ten best books for babies citation, Beginning with Books, 2003, for Boo Hoo Boo-Boo; Children's Book of Distinction, Riverbank Review, 2003, for Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth; best book citation, School Library Journal, 2003, for Fireflies at Midnight; honor book, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2005, for Creature Carnival.