NIGHT LIGHT

This urban-themed picture book makes ingenious use of simple die-cut circles of different sizes on each page to reveal the lights of various vehicles on the following page.

A train, helicopter, taxicab, tugboat, street sweeper, fire truck and other vehicles guaranteed to pique the interest of every little boy (and some girls) are rendered in a bold, stylized design using flat, vibrant colors. The book’s design has a fun, retro feel, although beginning readers may find the dot-matrix type challenging. The format encourages creative guesswork—which vehicle has two white, one red and one green light? Turn the page and see…a tugboat, of course! The title makes a clever connection between the various lights of the city at night, which are illustrated on every page, and the reassuring night light in the little boy’s bedroom on the last page, where he sits in his truck-shaped bed, surrounded by toy versions of the vehicles in the book, reading…this book. This is a first foray into children’s-book design by renowned New York Times designer and illustrator Blechman, sweetly dedicated to his young son.

A stylish and original take on the time-honored die-cut counting book.