Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Mary Szilagyi

Two words can summarize this book: describes setting. Cynthia Rylant is quickly becoming one of my favorite children's book authors because the words she chooses are so rich and accurate as they evoke the senses. Her books would be good teaching points in the classroom such as in a writer's workshop. Night Country transports the reader into the heart of the country where owls swoop, frogs sing, and apples fall. Humans don't realize all of the interactions that are taking place as they sleep.

Rylant uses the five senses, but she especially attunes the reader to the auditory sense. The frogs sing their songs, "Reek reek reek reek," a dog's chain clinks, a screen door creaks, and an apple "Pumps" to the ground. All of these sounds portray the country as alive even in the depths of the night. My favorite description was of the old country house. "All around you on a night in the country are the groans and thumps and squeaks that houses make when they are trying, like you, to sleep." This image made me think of my own house. Even though I don't live in the country, sounds inaudible during the day become apparent at night. Usually it's the cracking of the floor or the whirrs of the refrigerators that I don't pay attention to during the day that I only hear at night.

It is easy to visualize the countryside because of the elaborate country scene illustrations. The expansiveness of the country stretches outwards. The copyright page does not say how the illustrations were made, but it looks like colored pencils were used because of the brushed lines of color. Each page focuses in on one aspect of the country. By doing this, Rylant shows the reader the simultaneous occurrences in nature, and in this case, the countryside. This story took me back to my grandma and grandpa's farm house because it was there that I first saw the blackness of the night contrasted with the bright stars shining. A continuation of this book could continue for all of the events that happen in the daytime when all of nature's country creatures "will spend a day in the country listening to you."