The Evening Walk

by Joanne Ryder, Julie Durrell (Illustrator)

Mama Skunk takes her children on a nighttime walk and shows them stars, fireflies, a stream, the moon, and other things they haven't seen before.

Genres: Picture Books

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Joanna Ryder is an award-winning author whose books offer a unique blend of poetry and science. Her innovative Just for a Day series invites children into the world of wild animals, ranging from a sea otter to Tyrannosaurus rex. Ms. Ryder says, "Children know that my books often ask them to imagine being a different creature. So they always ask me which animal I would choose to be. I'd be a flying one, I tell them. Or if I could, I'd wish for wings. And I've discovered children would love wings, too. But which ones to choose? I wrote Rainbow Wings to help us decide." Ms. Ryder lives in Pacific Grove, California.

-taken from www.balkinbuddies.com

Reviews

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 5 out of 5]

I acquired two of Joanne Ryder’s books. Both inspire me with the unique touch of her journeys. In “The Snail’s Spell”, we come down to the sweet creature’s size. The sheer creativity of “The Evening Walk”, 1985, is equally impressive in another fresh way. It occurs to me to wonder if Joanne is a vegetarian or great animal lover, for she appeals to readers with their point of view so sensitively and endearingly. I feel she is always saying somewhere at the centre that animals too, are valid life with their own way of doing things in our world.

This time we meet a family. Skunks are correctly nocturnal animals and this Mother is taking her two children on their first long stroll. The newness, wonderment, and joy with which each of the children exclaims at everything they behold is absolutely darling and no different than a human toddler might do. I laughed and smiled all the way through this precious excursion as Mama Skunk taught Whisper and Bell what stars are. Building off of her children’s instantly-retained knowledge; when they subsequently interpret lower lights as nearer stars, Mama Skunk explains that these particular lights are fireflies. It was marvellous and uplifting to watch the children use each new piece of information, to try and identify everything they encountered next.

One has to marvel too, of course, at the author who dreamed all of this up. I love that these children are so completely new to every experience, that Mama needs to explain such basics as the moon and a stream. The picture of them drinking from it together, by Julie Durrell, is ever so sweet. Every page, in night tones, retains inner brightness, happiness, and warmth. The family points to places they will visit when they someday walk farther.

[Cws]

JE-Ryd