Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Julie M. Prince

Watchers is a glossy, well-made book that reminded me of the kinds of books I read as a small child. I kept running my hands over the cool, smooth cover, and I reveled in that cracking noise it made when I first opened it.

This story has a great concept of assuaging a childs nighttime fears with a little magic. Its about a little boy bravely facing his fear that someone is watching him in the dark. He devises a plan to capture his watchers and goes about setting up his trap.

I used the boys cat as my guide through the book, looking for its reactions as it crept along with the story, and I had a lot of fun with that.

I felt this book had problems with meter, as it was sometimes unclear to me where the pauses should be. Reading aloud was consequently troublesome in spots.

I liked the use of shadow in these watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations. The color scheme was perfectly in synch with the theme of nighttime watchers. There were some inconsistencies with the childs facial expressions and features, as well as odd angles of hands and feet on some pages that were bothersome. Nothing major.

I enjoyed the acknowledgements, which told how the story came to be, and Im glad it did. Overall, this is one storybook with a lot of heart!