Night Fun

Ted McGee is an associate professor of English specializing in
children’s literature at St. Jerome’s College, University of
Waterloo.

The nursery rhyme “Hey, diddle diddle” inspired the adventurous
dream of this book’s central character, Kevin. Sleep transports him,
in the company of a cow, a dog, a cat, a fiddle, a dish, and a spoon, to
Saturn, Pluto, and beyond. Then the whispers of his mother and father
summon Kevin back from this energetic quest to a sun-filled day of fun.

Kevin’s dream is peopled by pets, posters, photos, and figures from
his waking life, so that part of the fun is spotting their recurrence in
his dreamscapes. Quinlan tells the story in quatrains, but uses rhyme in
surprising ways to underline significant developments.

Ron Berg’s beautiful illustrations set the light of day, Earth, and
waking against the darkness of night, space, and sleep—a darkness that
charges the atmosphere with mysteriousness. Within that visual
framework, highly naturalistic figures, especially the animals, frolic
in fantastic settings: Saturn’s rings have ice sculptures, planets
have eyes, and the characters dine on star juice and moon pie.

Visually and poetically, Night Fun is intriguing work. Highly
recommended.