Review Detail

Night Walk

Kids Fiction 214

Remembering a grandparent who is gone

February 09, 2025 (Updated: June 25, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

3.0

Characters

3.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

A boy's grandfather wakes him up very early in the morning to go on a walk through the countryside to his his grandmother's favorite places. They walk through the woods, across an open field where they see a fox, and past a stream where the grandmother loved to have picnics. Continuing through the darkness, they pass a hollow with a deer and an owl, and stop to rest and look at the stars. As the sun comes up and the world is filled with light, they stand in a field and bask in the beauty of the sunrise in the grandmother's favorite place. The boy is glad to finally see this, and he and his grandmother think happy thoughts about the grandmother, and vow to think about her whenever they come here.

Good Points

The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and the dark blue and purple palette of most of the walk makes the sunrise's oranges and pinks even more striking. The plants and wildlife are all beautifully rendered, and there's a woodsy, 1970s feel to much of the background. The boy and his grandfather are both engaging; I picked this up because the grandfather on the cover looks a bit like one of my friends.

I also picked this up because the publisher's description starts "In a magical time before sunrise, a boy and his grandpa step outside for a joyful walk through nature", but it's important to know that this isn't an upbeat book about enjoying nature like Turcotte's The Sun Never Hurries. It's a book about grief, since the grandmother has clearly passed away.

This will no doubt be used in bibliotherapy for children dealing with loss, along with Karst's The Invisible String, Davies' Grandad's Island, and Krishnaswami's Remembering Grandad.