FICTION

Kitten and the Night Watchman

by John SULLIVAN
illus. by Taeeun Yoo. 40p. S. & S./Paula Wiseman Bks. Sept. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481461917.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1—After saying good night to his family, a night watchman makes his rounds at a construction site, checking that all is well. As he sits down to enjoy a cup of coffee, a kitten appears and accompanies him on the rest of his nightly circuit as the site grows darker and more fanciful—"An excavator bows like a strange giraffe. A backhoe rises like a giant insect." When the kitten suddenly disappears, the watchman worries until the kitten returns. This time, rather than letting the kitten go, the watchman brings him home to his family. Yoo's distinctive block print illustrations and Sullivan's spare poetic prose render a mundane construction site magical, alive with nighttime sights and sounds, and make the watchman's emotions so heartfelt, readers will worry and rejoice along with him.
VERDICT Based on true events, an unusual story of friendship so deftly executed it should be welcome in most collections.
Reviewed by Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University , Aug 01, 2018

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