The Night Is Singing too quietly?

Fantasy literature depends on children's imaginations, but sometimes that imagination can be too energetic--it can make a young child anxious about a dark night and an empty bedroom. That's what The Night Is Singing, a new picture book from Jacqueline Davies and Kyrsten Brooker, responds to.

Jackie's a good friend, and I saw her text for this book in a critique group and then through several stages to print. So I don't claim this is an unbiased opinion about The Night Is Singing.

I simply mention hearing that the two big U.S. bookstore chains have passed on stocking this picture book because it's "quiet." I'm not a parent, but I'd think that quiet is a good quality for helping a child go to bed. And the advance reviewers seem to agree.

• Horn Book: a "welcome contrast to the monster-under-the-bed genre"
• School Library Journal: a "perfect bedtime read"
• Kirkus: "gratifying and readable night after night"

So even if the two big chains don't (yet) carry The Night Is Singing in their regular stock, we can find it at Powell's and other independent retailers. Dial offers a look at a couple of page spreads, and Jackie's own site gives a hint of the rhyming text.