Out of a Dark Winter's Night Book Review

Out of a Dark Winter's Night
By Flora McDonnell
Published February 11, 2020

Mom's Review
Well, the title and cover certainly feel timely.

For us, this is a case of the right book for the right time. The first several times T and I read Out of a Dark Winter's Night, neither of us was particularly crazy about it. But reading it now, the tale and illustrations resonate in a way that they did not before. Like billions of others, we are thinking constantly about the coronavirus. Although I teach from home and T is at home with me most of the time anyway, we are feeling the lack of contact, wondering when things will change, and looking optimistically to reconnecting with friends face to face. With the sun shining and spring right around the corner, we have much to be joyful over as we move toward dawn.

Out of a Dark Winter's Night follows a child who wants to put a stop to the dark winter nights. He (or she – it's a small child, and it could be either) gathers equipment and sets out on an adventure to make the daylight last forever. Just when the child faces failure, dawn breaks. Yes, there will be hard times. Yes, you will face failure. But there are those who can help. And things will change, things can improve. Out of a Dark Winter's Night is an uplifting, encouraging, hopeful book.

One criticism: The text on the darkest pages is difficult to read. Each page has only a few words, so it is more of a nuisance than a problem.

Son's Review
(Age: 5)
What T liked:
What I especially liked was that it was fun. Where the baby was naked since naked is funny.

What T didn't like:
I didn't like how it didn't have much words on each page.

Note: A review copy was provided by Thames and Hudson in exchange for an honest review.