The Dark was published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd in 2013. It was written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen.
Laszlo is a little boy that doesn’t like the dark. The dark eventually talks to Laszlo, inviting him downstairs. What happens after this?
After finishing this book my only reaction was “Huh?”. It ends on a positive note but I really couldn’t figure out what the lights were doing in the bottom drawer. I’m guessing the dark is trying to be a nice guy by offering a new light as Laszlo’s night light burned out.
Why are the lights in the bottom drawer lit up (I don’t think they’re hooked up to an electric chord)? And where did they go the next morning? All you can do is say... “huh?”
Some of the sentences are much too long for young children to absorb. There’s an entire page dedicated to some preachy writing about how the “dark” has merit. I found myself frustrated at this point and I’m sure little kids would be confused by this one page. The writer also uses a few similes early on... not easy stuff for really young kids to understand.
I do like Jon Klassen’s illustrations in this book. It all takes place in one house and instead of white space... there’s a lot of “black” space. Laszlo’s flashlight creates a lot of interesting shapes and angles. From what I’ve seen in books illustrated by Klassen, he tends to not give his characters too many facial expressions and the boy doesn’t really seem that scared because of this (the only hint of him being scared is how he hold his flashlight while in bed). I did find the peach color of the sunset rather depressing... and the house does seem pretty bare... those are my only complaints about the illustrations.
This book is probably suited for older children and adults... don’t disturb little kids with this book.
