Night in the Barn

From School Library Journal Grade 1-4?The adventure begins with four boys, a "...darker than dark" night, and a dare: "Bet you're afraid to spend the night in the barn." Soon only a flashlight shields the children from "Ghosts and monsters...ready to lunge and pounce." Whether readers have experienced a similar situation?perhaps in a backyard tent setting?or not, most will relish the gently building tension and resolution as the realistic story develops. Gibbons's prose, finely controlled in the tradition of good storytelling, demands to be read aloud. The varnished watercolor illustrations are marvelously dark and engaging, capturing the mood. Ingraham uses the full sweep of the pages, interesting perspectives, and visual surprises to pull readers on with ever-widening and searching eyes. This is a tale that will spin children off into storytelling sessions of their own. It's fun and scary and rates a place on most library shelves.?Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WICopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From