I Just Want to Say Good Night

January 9, 2017
Isadora (I Hear a Pickle) revisits the rural African setting of some of her fairy tale retellings in a story spotlighting the age-old phenomenon of bedtime stalling. Despite her parents’ directives to come indoors, a girl named Lala—pictured with deep brown skin, spiky braids, and a cream-colored shift dress—insists that she needs to say good night to every animal in sight. “I just want to say good night to the cat,” she says, before moving on to a nearby goat, bird, monkey, dog, chickens, and (as her options dwindle) a trail of ants and a rock. The repetition gives the story a predictable, lilting cadence that invites children to echo Lala’s good night wishes. Eventually, she climbs into bed with a copy of Goodnight Moon and bids the moon good night; oddly, she ignores the baby sibling asleep beside her bed. Through the setting is never described more specifically than the “African veld,” Isadora’s dramatic oil-and-ink artwork offers tender portraits of Lala gently interacting with each animal against a darkening landscape as the sun descends, the moon rises, and shadows emerge. Ages 3–5.

December 15, 2016
A lushly illustrated picture book with a troubling message. Little Lala walks with her father after his successful day of fishing. When Mama calls her home for bed, a host of "good night"s delays her: to the bird, the monkey, and even the rock. As Lala wanders through her village in the darkening twilight, readers appreciate its expansive beauty and Lala's simple joys. Although it's been artfully written and richly illustrated by an award-winning author of many multicultural stories, this book has problems that overshadow its beauty. "African veld" sets the story in southern Africa, but its vague locale encourages Americans to think that distinctions among African countries don't matter. Lala wears braids or locks that stick straight up, recalling the 19th-century pickaninny, and her inconsistent skin color ranges from deep ebony like her father's to light brown. Shadows may cause some of these differences, but if it weren't for her identifiable hair, readers might wonder if the same child wanders from page to page. Perhaps most striking of all is Lala's bedtime story: not an African tale but an American classic. While this might evoke nostalgia in some readers, it also suggests that southern Africa has no comparably great bedtime books for Lala, perhaps in part because American children's literature dominates the world market. If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this. (Picture book. 3-5)

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February 1, 2017

PreS-Papa comes in from fishing as the sun sets over the African veld. Papa tells Lala that it's bedtime, but Lala asks to say good night to the cat, bird, goat, monkey, dog, rock, etc. Her patient mother looks on and gently prods her toward settling down. When Lala finally climbs into bed, she just has to say good night to her book. She smiles at the moon outside her window while holding a copy of Goodnight Moon. This gentle title is wholly original and a homage to the classic bedtime story. The oil paint and ink illustrations show a darkening sky and details of life in an unspecified African village; for instance, there are images of women carrying items on their heads, and the child's bedroom is a thatched hut. Universalities, such as a loving family coaxing an adorably stalling child to bed, are also depicted.

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