Product Description

In this stunning collaboration of two exceptional talents, the striking charcoal illustrations and nimble text reveal what happens at night when the gargoyles come to life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157803 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Moody, charcoal-powder drawings dramatize a tale of the secret life of gargoyles. In a starred review, PW called it "an unusually sophisticated work, playful but dark-edged." Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-What child hasn't looked at a sculpture or creatures carved in stone and wondered what would happen if they came to life? Bunting's canny phrasing and Wiesner's ominous black-and-white illustrations answer the question perfectly. When night comes, the gargoyles on a museum building come alive. They "gargoyle-hunch" with friends around a fountain, "rumble-laugh" at the night watchman, and resume their stone facades with empty eyes unblinking when morning arrives. If anyone could bring gargoyles to life pictorially, it's Wiesner. High-rise angles and perspectives are peopled with pigeons and squirrels; light is played against dark, forming menacing shadows; spreads and panels zoom in on narrow and wide-angle views; all creating a delicously eerie, spooky scenario. The brief text cunningly induces liveliness and wit with well-honed word choices: "they grunt of what they've seen...they grump of summer passing...they boom those gargoyle laughs that rumble thick because there is no space inside their solid stone for laughs to somersault." This is not for very young children, but it's sure to have enormous appeal for older audiences. From stony-eyed stares to their merry scorn of humans, it's gargoyle gleefulness.
Julie Cummins, New York Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4-8. In a macabre and funny picture book, those stone gargoyles that squat all day on public buildings get free at night and come down from their shadowy corners. Bunting's words are creepy and poetic, scary because they are so physically precise. The stone creatures are "pock-marked," their tongues "green-pickled at the edges." They have unblinking, bulging eyes and their mouths gape like empty suits of armor in museum halls. Wiesner's duotone charcoal illustrations capture the huge heaviness of the stone figures and their gloomy malevolence as they bump and fly and tumble free in the dark. They are so ugly. They're like fiends that come from the graves at night. They're also very human. Wiesner's funniest scene is a double-page spread of a group of gargoyle creatures hunching and grunting together at a spitting water fountain. They could be the gossips and grousers at your local neighborhood hangout. This book is more a situation than a story, but it makes you face what you've always feared but hadn't quite seen. Even the word gargoyle makes you choke. Hazel Rochman

Customer Reviews

Frolicking gargoyles will bewitch readers with their revelry
Visions of frolicking gargoyles delighting in night, splish-splashing in watery fountains, and spooking unwanted humans tempt the senses of readers as Eve Bunting nimbly weaves her silvery text around these stony figures. Each page sets forth a new scene of the gargoyles' brief revelry before they are destined, once again, to return to "squat high on corners...empty eyes unblinking...". The text is intertwined from page to page with a lyrical yet unconscious rhythm, permeating each scene with a spookiness enhanced by the onminous repetition "till night comes". Wiesner's two-toned pastels soften the contrast of light to dark, enhancing the story's black and white ghostliness as the gargoyles come to life-lounging in trees, spewing water, and making faces at one another. His illustrations animate these "pock-marked" characters in a way that text alone cannot. Shadowy visages added to haunted expressions reveal an underlying tone whispering hints of the supernatural. Perfectly mysterious for reading out loud, this book will bewitch readers and listeners, school-age and beyond, with its timeless tale of the creepy-crawlies that come out at night.

Not Just for Kids!
I checked out this book from my local library for my four-year-old daughter who wanted a "scary" book, and the first thing that caught my eye was the excellent art work. It's absolutely stunning. Each page is a work of art unto itself, with blacks, whites, and grays that add immeasurably to this gothic little poem about mischievous gargoyle statues that come alive at night to frolic and play jokes on human beings. I can see how the book might be a little too scary for some children, but my daughter seems to find it "just right," as do I. Yes, the gargoyles look a little menacing and the overall tone of the book is a little dark, but it's also fun in the same way that Halloween is fun. Furthermore, I as an adult get a kick out of reading the book, the text of which is not necessary so simple that only young children will appreciate it; both kids and adults will enjoy it, in my opinion. I plan to buy a copy from Amazon for my own library, in fact.

Don't Wear Your Sunglasses at Night
Eve Bunting is not only one of the most prolific children's authors writing, she is also one of the best. Her poetic tale of NIGHT OF THE GARGOYLES is a darkly comical look at what happens at night when the sun goes down. Taking a cue from THE NUTCRACKER, THE VELVETEEN RABBIT, and other famous "come to life" stories, Bunting weaves a poetic homage to the stone guardians about when and how they come to life and what they do when no one is looking. David Wiesner's magnificent black, white, and grey illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to the text. The youngest and most easily scared of readers may find the story too scary. However, older children and even adults can be entertained by and enjoy the "foolish" (mischievous) escapades of these ancient stone warriors.