What Night Do the Angels Wander? - Hardcover

Phoebe Stone is the author of All the Blue Moons at the Wallace Hotel, which the Boston Globe called, "a book full of joy and beauty" and "a true children's classic," as well as the author and illustrator of When the Wind Bears Go Dancing; Go Away, Shelley Boo!; and What Night Do the Angels Wander? She has twice received the Vermont Council on the Arts Fellowship for painting, and her work has appeared in many galleries and museums. Phoebe grew up both painting and writing in a family of novelists and poets. She lives with her husband, photographer David Carlson, and son, Ethan, in Middlebury, Vermont.

Ages 4^-7. Stone's text poses one long question about a special night: "What night do the angels wander the woods, / tossing fruits and acorns and seed / for the hungry rabbits and squirrels and birds / that come to the woods to feed?" Each impressive spread gives another clue: "And when do the angels skip and dance / in a crystal globe of light? / Around and around the lantern moon / they dance the wintry night?" The word imagery is mostly lovely, though occasionally pretentious, but probably an audience slightly older than the usual picture-book crowd will best be able to savor the words. The artwork, executed in pastels, is, naturally, full of angels, multiethnic creatures in glorious red dresses who sweep through the sky. Dotted with golden lights, caressed by roses, and inhabited by birds, animals, and dancing children, the pictures retain the essence of a magical dream. Ilene Cooper