Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by David Diaz
Harcourt Brace & Company
Published in 1994
ISBN 0152699546
40 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardback)
Barnes & Noble (Hardback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

APART OF THE GOODREADS 2011 READING CHALLENGE.

Review/Rating:

3 out of 5



Ease of Reading Text: 2 out of 5
Illustrations: 2 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5

Riots are breaking out in the streets of Los Angeles, and it isn't any different in Daniel's neighborhood. Daniel and his neighbors learn an important lesson after two always fighting cats finally get along.

This picture book is set during an actual historical event, the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Because it uses a historical related event, the plot is very well informed and good because it teaches us and any children who read this book that we should value people and get along, no matter how different we are. Also, it teachers young children about the racial differences we had, and still have, through simple measures.

Even though the plot is very nicely done, the illustrations and how easy you can read the text isn't. The illustrations seem overdone with the textures all over the place, and I paid more attention to the textures instead of the actual drawings. Also, with most of the text, it was over textures that were hard to read black text off of.

Anyways, those were the only two things that I had a problem with in this book. It also has a wonderful lesson for everyone to learn and remember. Though, I have just a word of warning, it has the theme of racism in the book. However, it isn't really that noticeable, if the kid is really young. This is a very good book with an important lesson to learn, no matter how young the child is, but the illustrations and how well you can see/read the text is kind of hard and bleh.

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Eve Bunting
David Diaz
Goodreads: Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
Library Thing: Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
The Rookie's View: Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
Best Children's Books: Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz