Night in the Country

book is incomplete and it came in terrible worn conditions, i got it in "good" condition and it wasn't even acceptable. Two pages are missing, the paper cover was completely trashed and stained with rips, inside there is writing all around.

THE BOOK ARRIVED IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND IS BEING ABSOLUTELY ENJOYED BY MY GRANDCHILDREN. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE LOVELY, AS IS THE STORY

Night in the country is a beautiful work. I love the illustrations by Mary Szilaggi. It, like the title states, deals with night in the country, in particular, night sounds, which can, if a young child is not use to them, be a bit alarming. I have found this book quite useful with young grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends who are unfortunate enough to live in the city. When they visit, some of the sounds simply frighten them. After reading this book to them, we take them on night walks, slow walks through our trees and fields, listening and then identifying the sound they hear. This is fun and the fright soon leaves. The illustrations and the text of this work are quite simple and a joy to both the ear and they eye. Highly recommend this one.

This book has a wonderful meter for reading aloud as a bedtime book and I would recommend it highly for anyone looking for a bedtime book for a young child. The story is very calming and poetic, not a rhyming sing-song book but a wonderfully comforting weaving of words and illustration to help soothe little minds about the night noises they might hear. You do not have to live in the country to appreciate the descriptions of "the groans and squeaks that houses make" Enjoyable from the city to the fields and everywhere in between. Cynthia Rylant's soothing rhythm and Mary Szilagyi's illustrations are a perfect fit. My children aged 2 and 4 adore this book and request it frequently at bedtime.

An awesome, quiet book. Rylant appreciates the simple beauty of night time sounds, from a creaking house getting comfortable for rest to an old pig rolling over in the straw to a sleeping dog's chain clinking. All quiet sounds that deserve observation. What initially caught my eye was the reference to a screen door closing in the night and the wonder of who might be up that late--I have often thought about things like that and I appreciated someone else's observation of the same thing. And what sold me on the book is when my four-year-old, after several months of none-interest in the book suddenly asked if I would read this book so he could wonder too about the person whose screen door closed in the night--obviously, Rylant's poetry in her prose is endearing and indelible. Szilagyi's artwork is appropriate to the text, neither overwhelming or boring. She has a nice, sublte touch that complement's the poetry of the book. Highly recommended