From School Library Journal Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2 - The Night Eater follows the moon at "the edge of every day," consuming the darkness. He is a cheerful, cherubic creature, sporting a sleeping cap and a tied-on nose folded out of red construction paper. With a gleam in his eyes, he gobbles up "every kind of night: cloudy nights as light and sweet as cotton candy and deep black nights that tasted like bitter chocolate." However, when the moon makes a rude comment about his increasing size (he is literally bursting at the seams), the wounded Night Eater stops eating. At first, people are delighted to discover some of the treasures of nighttime, such as nocturnal animals and flowers that bloom in the dark. But soon it gets cold, the moon grows weary, and the sun becomes restless. Fortunately, the Night Eater doesn't take much convincing to go back to his ways, and all is well. The sense of magic realism in this story is matched in Juan's richly colored acrylic-and-wax paintings. The pages are filled with appealing denizens of day and night, both real and imaginary. This delightful tale will definitely appeal to children's imaginations. - Robin L. Gibson, formerly at Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist *Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. A little boy with a fake beaked nose, a pink stocking cap, and a mischievous look ushers children into this dreamy fantasy. The child is the Night Eater, and each night he gobbles the darkness. Juan's evocative text describes cloudy nights as light as cotton candy and deep black nights like bitter chocolate. A fantastical spread shows the sun feeding light to a string of creatures as the Night Eater withdraws. So night follows the day--until the moon notes that the Night Eater has put on weight, and the Night Eater, infuriated, decides never to eat another bite. The ensuing chaos opens the way for marvelously surrealistic paintings of people moving through their days in the dark and crying children waiting for the sun. Juan, who illustrated Jonah Winter's Frida (2002), uses a similar style here. Rounded shapes, floating images, and star-shine hues make his pictures even more delicious. In a happy ending, the Night Eater resumes his munching, leading to gloriously colored scenes as the sun breaks through. An unusual, enchanting blend of sophistication and simple storytelling. Ilene Cooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved