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I WALK AT NIGHT by Lois Duncan

I WALK AT NIGHT

by Lois Duncan

Pub Date: Feb. 1st, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-87513-9
Publisher: Viking

A first-person narration puts forth an imagined version of a cat’s inner thoughts as it prowls through the night, and the events are more hushed than the horror-movie title implies. In spare, irregular rhyme, Duncan (Trapped!, 1998, etc.) leads readers on a walk as a house cat goes to “tread on silken toes,” “lap from china bowls,” or “dream of birds and fishes.” The text, while hardly warranting an entire picture book, sets a mood for the tranquil, moon-drenched oil paintings. Each spread is so soundless, it will have readers tiptoeing through the pages, imagining the soft padding of cat feet or the mysterious mewing of a contented kitty. Outlines of string give the cat cunning definition, as do blocks of color that create an unbroken sense of night, subtly laced with a smattering of block-printed stars, moons, and clover. While the cozy paintings are sure to please, the oddly unsatisfying poem hovers around the edges, hinting at the mysterious nature of felines, but failing to deliver adventure, surprise, or true delight. (Picture book. 4-8)