CITY NIGHT

A brief, pungent, onomatopoeic text is coupled with richly-hued, stylized illustrations to re-create a festival mood in a nighttime city. ""The city dresses up so fine. Sparkle. Spangle. Jangle. Shine!"" Lights are strung for a neighborhood fair with puppets, clowns, a band, and of course rood. As a distant tower clock marks the hours, a family of three leaves their apartment, attends the celebration, returns, and sleeps till ""Sun is dawning."" Sis has made interesting use of geometric efforts in his oil paintings: horizontal striations across the broad double spreads provide texture for both street and evening sky, as well as a feeling of serenity; the rhythm of the architectural backgrounds is given variety by the assortment of arched and rectangular windows, some highlighted with illumination. There are entrancing details, including the family cockatoo that escapes its cage to appear in every picture. Static, dreamlike, the illustrations glow with the magic of being out late in a familiar place turned strange by the night and the occasion. A lovely bedtime book that would also be suitable for use with a group.