The Midnight Library

April 14, 2014
For children whose early bedtimes make them feel like they’re missing all the fun, Kohara (Here Comes Jack Frost) offers a gentle middle-of-the-night fantasy. Her library for nocturnal creatures is open all night, staffed by a young librarian with braids and her three assistant owls. They take good care of their animal patrons, guiding a noisy band of squirrel musicians upstairs to the activity room and encouraging Miss Wolf to stick with the story she’s reading, despite the traumatic part in the middle (“She was crying so much her tears fell like rain”). The ringing of a bell lets everyone know that dawn is coming, and they have to go home—even the tortoise who insists that he has to finish his book first: “I only have 500 pages left!” Kohara, a skilled visual storyteller, creates intricate linocut prints whose black outlines are accented with ochre and midnight blue. She switches nimbly between big spreads, sequential panels, and cutaway views. The curves of the library’s doorway and its black spiral staircase give the pages just the tiniest taste of charming gothic gloom. Ages 3–6.

Starred review from April 1, 2014
A celebration of the expanded roles of libraries in the 21st century takes its visual cue from the best mid-20th-century picture books. "Once there was a library that opened only at night. A little librarian worked there with her three assistant owls." These sentences appear on opposite sides of the gutter of a double-page spread that shows a simply depicted girl in a dress, with hair in sticking-out braids and arms full of books, moving briskly across the library. Bold black outlines the little librarian and her avian assistants, all of whom are the same goldenrod color as the library walls and the outside-of-the-windows stars. The third color in the tricolor prints is a deep blue, consistently coloring the many books shelved throughout the pages. The little librarian and her assistants cheerfully accommodate musical squirrels who disrupt silent readers, a wolf who weeps over a sad part in a book ("she was crying so much her tears fell like rain") and a tortoise whose slow reading threatens to keep the library open past its dawn closing hour. The text and artwork do not miss a beat as the closing spread shows the little librarian and her assistants reading a bedtime story. The book-and-star-themed endpapers add to the charm. Original, imaginative and perfect for naptime or bedtime. (Picture book. 2-6)

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June 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Kohara's latest picture book is tailor-made for pajama storytimes. The Midnight Library is unusual-only open from midnight until dawn. Bustling among furry and feathered patrons, a little librarian and her three assistant owls help each and every reader find the perfect book. Acknowledging that modern libraries also function as vibrant community centers where noise is accommodated, the diminutive information professional cheerfully leads a band of musical squirrels to the activity room, where they "played their instruments as loud as they liked." As dawn approaches and the librarian prepares to close down, she patiently persuades a slowly reading tortoise to get a library card and borrow his selection-a scene which will ring familiar for many librarians. As in Ghosts in the House (Roaring Brook, 2008), Kohara employs a limited but bold palette for her sightly retro-style linocut illustrations. Thick black lines define the young librarian, her animal patrons, and the angular, teetering stacks of books. Mustard yellow, which serves as the primary color throughout, lends the nighttime setting a coziness and warmth appropriate for snuggling up for storytime. Pops of navy blue accent both the midnight sky glimpsed through windows and the dozens of library books. Kohara achieves something unique with this title: a modern sensibility with a classic aesthetic. A delightful addition to picture book collections.-Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Preschool-G A nocturnal little librarian in pigtails and her three owl assistants help the library's visitors find exactly what they need in the latest from Kohara. In striking block-printed pictures rendered in thick black, dusky blue, and sunny yellow, Kohara follows the helpful midnight librarian through one night of problemsthe squirrel band wants to practice their noisy new material; Miss Wolf reads a sad book and weeps rainlike tears all over the reading room; and Tortoise won't leave at closing time. Luckily, the midnight library has resources to satisfy everyone. There's an activity room where the band can play and a storytelling corner where Miss Wolf can listen to a happy ending; Tortoise can sign up for a library card, and, of course, there's a perfect bedtime book for three sleepy owls. The jaunty, cartoonish illustrations depict happy animals enjoying the library for more than just reading, and cooperatively respecting everyone's space (is there a more important library lesson?). It goes without saying that this is perfect for storytime.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)