Twilight - Hardcover

Holly Young Huth began working with children as an educator. She published poetry and her book Centerplay before finding her niche writing children's books. Her books for Atheneum include The Son of the Sun and The Daughter of the Moon and Darkfright. Several months a year, Ms. Huth travels the world with her journalist husband for inspiration. She lives in Gold Hill, Colorado, where she and her family built their own home.

PreSchool-Grade 1-The book cover sets the stage for this flight of fancy. It depicts a young girl soaring purposefully toward New York City's brilliantly lit Chrysler Building, against a softly glowing sky. She's "the keeper of the twilight," and she has left her mother's side to attend to all of her duties: polishing the stars, reading the sun a bedtime story, and "persuading" the moon to rise. While the language is not particularly notable, preschoolers (who have so little control over their own universe) will enjoy the heroine's commanding tone as she admonishes the owl to keep his eyes closed a little longer and informs the coyotes it is not yet time to howl. This latter scene is a bit jarring since all of the other compositions integrate her body (and thus the fantasy) into a New York City setting. Here, she and the coyotes are superimposed on the top of the page in a yellow desert, floating above a city skyline at sunset. The child ultimately relinquishes her role as she takes her mother's hand once again, because "It's nighttime now," and "She wasn't in charge of that." McPhail's watercolors effectively create this magical time of day, with its deepening shadows, isolated patches of sunlight, and a skyline that's an ever-changing canvas. The short text and shifting perspectives lend themselves to both bedtime and storytime sharing. The title begs pairing with Barbara Berger's Grandfather Twilight (Philomel, 1984). Mary Joslin's Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes (Augsburg, 1999) would provide additional pleasure.
Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
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