Night Lunch

In the middle of the night in a 19th-century-looking city, a horse-drawn cart rolls up to an assortment of nocturnal animals eagerly awaiting their midnight meals. The night lunch cart, with its Owl chef, cooks up an assortment of meals for its patrons: Fox gets mince pie, Badger gets a sandwich, Moth is served fried eggs. As the sun starts to rise and Owl prepares to depart, they notice a hungry and frightened mouse. Luckily, this Owl is friendly and generous and, instead of eating the mouse, surprises it with an elaborate spread for both of them to enjoy before rolling off into the sunrise.

The narrative, composed of spare and poetic couplets, is a little hard to follow. While most of the couplets mirror each other in the number of syllables, creating a steady rhythm, some couplets do not have this symmetry and it interrupts the flow. Similarly, the rhythm sometimes suggests a rhyming structure that does not exist. This awkward text requires paying attention to, at least on a first reading, and distracts from the illustrations which are important to understanding the story. Despite these shortcomings, the language used fits the tone of the book and features some wonderful onomatopoeia like sizzling, shuffle, and rustle which are delightful to read aloud and help bring the story to life.

Though they are digital, the pictures look like pen-and-ink drawings. Using a palette of mostly brown, black, and grey, the images are dark and moody and atmospheric. Illustrator Seiferling does a wonderful job of bringing this Victorian night scene alive. From the street signs with their era-appropriate fonts to the wooden-wheeled lunch cart adorned with fairy lights, the nighttime scenes are cozy with a hint of menace. The lighting, both from within the cart and from without, creates depth and casts shadows that add to this ambiance.

Night Lunch is a nice bedtime book for younger children, but it will likely not hold much interest for children at the upper end of the suggested age range.