Kitten and the Night Watchman

A night watchman hugs his family and goes to work, where he methodically makes his rounds through an empty construction site. His flashlight's warm yellow beam illuminates the darkness: "He checks the doors. He checks the workshop." Debut author Sullivan, who based the story on his own experience, illuminates the inner life of his character as well, using concise, poetic language. The watchman "thinks of his boy and girl, safe and asleep at home." He's alert to the beauty of the darkness, too: the big trucks' fanciful-looking shadows ("A backhoe rises like a giant insect"), the full moon that "shines like an old friend," the way the air fills with a sound of a train and then becomes still again. Most of all, he is kind: a stray gray kitten joins him on his rounds (" 'Back again?' he asks"), and after worrying when it disappears, the watchman takes the kitten home to join his family. Yoo (Strictly No Elephants) sets a lovely mood, taking readers from sunset to dawn through washes of orange, pink, and blue, the watchman's compassionate demeanor assuring them that all's well. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

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.—Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.