Night of the Gargoyles

Product Information

Other new Carry-Along titles include The Wall, Eve Bunting's story about a father-and-son visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, illus. Jake wakes up in the middle of the night, scaring himself when he touches his dog Biff's cold, wet nose. The gargoyles in this haunting tale are mischievous as they “creep on stubs of feet…land in sleeping trees…and swoop to where a fountain splashes. What a fun tale for all ages, highlighted by Wiesner's moonlit illustrations done in fifty shades of mottled grey. Wiesner captures all these moods and more in marvelously textured charcoal-powder illustrations that powerfully infuse the stone-solid watersprouts with life.

The illustrations are dark and interesting but they don’t make you want to explore the text and further.The beautifully detailed black and white illustrations done by David Wiesner show the fun things the gargoyles take part in when they come alive. The story does not leave much to the imagination as far as endings go, but the outstanding use of poetic phrasing keeps you entranced throughout the story. Bunting's (Blackwater) latest tale sets up readers for an intergalactic adventure, yet never gets off the ground.

At first the illustrations seem a bit daunting but actually work very well in showing the light nature of the gargoyles.The gargoyles squat / high on corners / staring into space, their empty eyes unblinking / till night comes.

After reading through the book, which was also illustrated by David Weisner, the author of award winning books such as Tuesday(1992) I was pleasantly surprised to find a creepy and somewhat humorous book. I don't think I'd read this as a bedtime story either (the illustrations might be a little scary for some young readers). Its language is both economical and rich, its mood a complex blend of the eerie, the sensuous (the gargoyles ``lick the stars with long, stone tongues''), the innocent (the creatures evince a childlike curiosity and a touching, very human desire for company) and the melancholic (they ``have no love of humans who have made them so''). So begins the poetic narrative of this striking picture book from author Eve Bunting and illustrator David Wiesner.

Bunting’s evocative writing coupled with Wiesner’s eye-catching charcoal illustrations tell a playful but dark story. At night, while the city sleeps, they creep from their perches, clambering to the windows of the museum, where they ``peer,/ nearsighted,/ into rooms where mummies lie/ in boxes, long and thin/ as coffins, ribboned round/ with painted boats and figures. If the illustrations of a book were the foundation of how I rate books, than I would have given this one a 4 or 5 star. Bunting (Smoky Night) features two badgers walking along a forest path at sunset in the opening shot of this somewhat plodding intergenerational tale.