Orion and the Dark

This is just an amazing book all around: the illustrations are gorgeous and unique and the story is fantastic as well, with a great message! Orion is afraid of so many things, but especially the dark until The Dark comes to visit him. The cheerful personification of the dark looks absolutely huggable and I love how together they conquer Orion's fear by discovering the truth of each aspect of the dark that terrifies him—knowledge is power.

The story of Orion and his many fears is told in doodly illustrations saturated with color. Especially lovely are the figure of Dark and the night sky illustrations with stars and constellations. I like the friendly personification of Dark and its matter-of-fact expanation of all the things that go bump in the night. The many doodled illustrations extraneous to the main storyline make this a little tricky as a read aloud, but it is doable and the book is perfect for a curious and competent little reader.