Book 1: On The Night You Were Born

By Nancy Tillman

Summary

This is a book that was written for very young children. The author emphasizes the uniqueness of the child and the special identity of the child's name. Each page of verse has a facing page of artwork by the author. In each page of art, the moon is always there, either with a smiling face, found behind the early morning clouds, or in the reflection on the water. Musical notes are also found in every page of artwork by the author. The musical notes are meant to be the child's name which is whispered by the wind and the rain. Animals dance to the music that is the child's name. All the animals and the elements of nature celebrate the child's birth.

Impressions

This book is not necessarily written for children to learn how to read. It was written for adults to read to their children and teaches parents how to tell children about the night they were born and how special they are. The verse is simple and the facing art helps to graphically portray the verse. Because the story is about a child's birth at night, the scenes are primarily night scenes. I think the artwork is a little too dark, which might not be attractive to little children. Adults may use this book to teach a child how unique they are, how special their birth was, and how important their name is. All of this, of course teaches the child that they are loved and cherished.

Reviews

Gillian Engberg (2006), in her review for Booklist, says that "the computer-generated, collage artwork is sometimes blurry, and some of the compositions lack clear, dramatic shapes and figures that will pull a young audience" (p. 55). Carolyn Janssen (2007) says that adults would find this book worth sharing with a child and "the dark blue night skies make a beautiful and dramatic setting for this special night. The painterly art and poetic quality of the text make this an attractive book" (p. 187). Although it is agreed that adults would appreciate the book's central theme of a child's special place in the world,

Engberg's (2006) review points out that some elements of the book may be difficult for a young child to understand. "In addition, children may miss the symbolism in the images: musical notes meant to represent the sound of a child's name, for example" (p. 55).

Use in a library setting

Since this book was written for very young children, I think it can be used in an elementary school library setting for a story time read aloud. Children can listen to the story first and then the librarian can return to the beginning to talk about the pictures and the meaning each picture has to the written verse on the facing page. Children can discuss how the moon is always smiling and how the animals sway to the music that is the child's name.

References

Engberg, G. (2006). On the night you were born. Booklist, 103(7), 55.  Retrieved from

       http://www.ala.org/offices/publishing/booklist/

Janssen, C. (2007). On the night you were born. School Library Journal, 53(3), 186-187.

       Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/

Tillman, N. (2006). On the night you were born. New York: Feiwel & Friends.