Laszlo is afraid of the dark.
But the dark isn’t afraid of Laszlo.
The dark lives in the basement of Laszlo’s house.
Laszlo speaks to the dark and visits the dark’s room hoping that it won’t come and visit him in his room. He notices where the dark hides during the day and how it comes out at night.
When the light goes out in Laszlo’s room, he comes face to face with his fears.
Lemony Snickett (best known for novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events and pseudonym for Daniel Handler) personifies the dark “sometimes the dark hid in the closet. Sometimes it sat behind the shower curtain”. This has the effect of making the dark friendly and approachable.
The Dark was the winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing of a picture book in 2014. The illustrations by Jon Klassen are realistic and compelling. The dark is pure black on the pages contrasting with the light and the shadows as Laszlo explores his house during the daytime and at night.
In the end, Laszlo learns that he has nothing to fear as darkness is just a part of life.
“without the dark, everything would be light, and you would never know if you needed a lightbulb”.
Kids ages 4- 8 years will love this creative book about overcoming a fear of the dark. The concept and art in this book are brilliantly paired and help us all realize you can’t have light without dark.
Helps with: fear of the dark, overcoming fears, understanding the need for light and dark in our world.
Author: Lemony Snicket
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2013