FICTION

What There is Before There is Anything There: A Scary Story

by LINIERS
tr. from Spanish by Elisa Amado. illus. by Liniers. 24P. House of Anansi/Groundwood. 2014. TR $18.95. ISBN 9781554983858.
COPY ISBN
K-GR 2—Liniers's story tackles one of the biggest childhood fears: the dark. A young boy's nighttime rituals are observed as his parents bid him good night. When the light is turned out, darkness creeps in and strange creatures emerge, surrounding his bed and staring at him. The child ultimately asks to sleep with his parents, but the real twist comes when the first bizarre being, a blue blob with a long pointed nose, appears at the foot of his mom and dad's bed. Liniers's cartoons effectively capture an imagination run wild. This is the perfect book for those who loved Jon Klassen and Lemony Snicket's The Dark (Little, Brown, 2013).—Krishna Grady, Darien Library, CT
Every night a boy's ceiling becomes a black void. Down floats a succession of bizarre creatures; finally comes something dark and shapeless, announcing, "I am what there is before there is anything there." This is a scary story indeed--with unflinching ink and wash illustrations--but kids who suffer through similarly tortured bedtimes may find validation in Argentinian cartoonist Liniers's bravely existential picture book.
Argentinian cartoonist Liniers's (The
Reviewed by Krishna Grady , Nov 01, 2014

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