QUIET NIGHT
by Marilyn Singer & illustrated by John Manders
What starts out as a quiet night with only one frog bar-rumming soon turns into a raucous cacophony as two owls, three geese, four fish, and a host of other creatures yowl, scratch, and honk. Finally, ten yawning campers awaken to shine a flashlight on the bug-eyed noisemakers. Singer’s (Footprints on the Roof, p. 110, etc.) simple and spare rhyming text is carried by Manders’s (What You Never Knew About Tubs, Toilets, and Showers, 2001, etc.) hilarious illustrations. As the rhyme repeats the preceding verses— “Six raccoons churr-rurr, / Five coyotes rowl-yowl, / Four fish whap-slap”—each double spread is increasingly crowded with crazily cavorting critters. The lovely endpapers of the moon over pine trees correspond to the title, which sets the reader up for the noisy surprise between the teasing covers. Great fun for reading and laughing out loud, or even for a choral recitation. (Picture book. 3-5)