I Love the Night

Every once in a while, a diamond sparkles on top of the slush pile. I LOVE THE NIGHT authored and illustrated by University of Missouri-Columbia creative writing graduate, Dar Hosta is one of these rare finds. Her spare writing and little details sparkle with wit and warmth. In a language geared to a young audience, she awakens nightly creatures. Her use of double adjectives: " marvelously marvelous - delightfully delightful" emphasize her marvel at the beauties of the night. Under the blue glow of the moon, you become acquainted with all kinds of earthly creatures from fireflies, crickets, a giant octopus, frogs, raccoons, to of course an owl. The book's illustrations are a real showcase of an amazing talent. Combining collage, oil pastel, colored pencil and a digital graphics tablet, she has created brilliant scenes and fantastic creatures that nearly leap off the page. Every page is a labor of love, although my favorite spreads are the frog and the raccoon. A fun thing to experiment with children is to have them try and guess what material Dar Hosta has used for her collages. For example, the moon (and here I am guessing!) is made of lint sheets for the dryer. Also the frog collage could be made of kitchen paper towels among other found objects. Dar Hosta's art in I LOVE THE NIGHT dominates the book giving it a quality that will attract young and older readers alike. I LOVE THE NIGHT is a true diamond on your child's night table that will indeed make for a sweet dreamy night. No wonder this book has earned the Teachers Choice Award Learning Magazine for the Family 2004! Reviewer: Lily Azerad-Goldman Author and Artist

I Love The Night by author/illustrator Dar Hosta is a delightful and original children's picture book remarkably enhanced with unique paper collage creations, which depict the various creatures and plants that are active throughout the evening hours in the heart of a swampy rain forest. A gentle story perfectly suited for reading aloud to young ones before bedtime, I Love The Night is especially commended for children ages 3 to 8.

I was absolutely entranced by I LOVE THE NIGHT, relishing the cadence & humor of the stories of who comes out in the moonlight.Ranging from tree tops to sea floor, the creatures of the night come out to play in wonderful full page pictures.A veritable treasure of a book & perfect for dreamtime.

"I Love the Night" will capture you with its beautifully collaged illustrations and its well written story about nocturnal animals. I love to use this book as a teaching tool in my classroom because of the colorful explanations of the animals' activities at night. I also enjoyed the "magically magical" literary style! I highly recommend this story if you are a teacher, animal lover, or if you are nocturnal yourself! A great read! Thanks, Dar!

I read this book to my two children, ages 7 and 5. We all very much enjoyed it. I may have enjoyed it more then they did! Some childrens books are so much alike you get tired of the same old story told different ways. Sometimes, as a parent, you get tired of reading the same book over and over - EXCEPT for the classics. This book is sure to be a classic. The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL and unlike anything I've ever seen. I highly recommend it - if you have children or not!