Have a Night In with Night Out

Night Out by Daniel Miyares has great, lovely illustrations but what is needed is more story. The boy of our story is an outcast orphan (from what you can tell from the illustrations). But after an amazing, quirky, bizarre and fun dream (or is it?) where the boy makes many new friends, he is able to tell a story (the dream) to the other boys. And now, he has found a way to make friends and no longer sits alone at the end of table.

Due to the lack of actual story text you pretty much have to tell the story yourself. The redeeming quality of the book is the fact it has these fantastic illustrations. They are solid but dream like. They have depth with their deep, dark, bold colors. There are a few hints to what the boy will dream about in the room. Some are seen at the start and some at the end as the boy climbs back into the room through the window).

 

Everything lends itself to being a bedtime story. The younger child will enjoy looking the illustrations, while the older could read what text there is and tell their own story from the images presented by Miyares.

 

Each of the books Miyares has illustrated has a combination of a signature style, but also has its own unique character. Night Out shows this with not being as lighthearted as some of the others he has illustrated. This different take to the art brings to mind classically stories with its own modern take.