It would be easy to dismiss this book because of the text simplicity and the dark illustrations. And what a loss that would be. The illustrations of a picture book are an important component; Miyakoshi conveys the quietness and isolation of the night through the pencil and charcoal illustrations.

As an educator, I see two great uses for this book in the classroom. First, it is an excellent example to use in teaching the concept of value and shading in art as well as leading to discussions about how drawings, a two-dimensional object, can convey emotion and setting. This book would also be an excellent addition to any study on community.

I received a dArC from the publisher via Netgalley*. This is my honest review.
*expired: library edition reviewed

Such a beautiful, and touching children's story! I loved the illustrations in this one, and the innocence of the mother bunny and her child.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read and review The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi. The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi is a children's picture book with softly drawn, subdued illustrations that make the book feel cozy and the reader sleepy. Peaceful and simple prose brings to mind the innocent pondering of a child's thoughts. 4 stars for a comforting story.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary consideration.

The illustrations in charcoal, pencil, and acrylic gouache capture the mix of darkness and splashes of light that can be experienced when walking through a city at night. When you look closely, there is the grainy texture of an old photo and that texture creates another layer of distance and dimness to the scenes. The young rabbit who narrates the walk home notices details as the family passes along the street. The scent of freshly baked pie. The flicker of light from a television set. The sound of a party next door. All the senses are engaged as they approach home and bedtime.

This is a different kind of bedtime story. The city with a variety of animals as its inhabitants is an unusual mix of setting and characters. Generally we see people in their homes settling in for the night, or perhaps animals out in the country cuddling up with their young. The difference is a unique feature of this book and draws your attention in to find out exactly what these animals are doing in their shops and apartments. Scenes with a goat using a toothbrush or a deer asleep on the couch with an open book in its lap will have readers pausing and taking a second look.

The slow, steady progress of the parents carrying the small rabbit is like the steady tick of the clock toward bedtime. And the child wondering about the things they passed on the way home is similar to the way all of us have thoughts that float through our minds as we drift off to sleep. "Some nights are ordinary, and other nights are special. But every night, we all go home to bed." Those ending lines are comforting and tie us all together, whether we are the characters or the readers.

With its subdued color palette and the shadowy darkness of the city scenes, this is a book that lulls you into restfulness as you read it. A nice, quiet bedtime story.

This beautiful bedtime story chronicles how evening turns to night for different characters in a meaningful manner.

Cute story of a family walking home at night, what they see through lit windows, and the lives the young child imagines for each inhabitant.

I have become a real fan of Akiko Miyakoshi's picture books. The illustrations are simply stunning. With a few colors, she achieves the most amazing effects. This latest book reminded me how much I have always loved walking through the streets of our town at night, seeing the lights in the windows, smelling dinners being cooked, wondering and imagining what is happening in the houses and apartments. She captures the special magic of a nighttime stroll through town beautifully.

A lovely story. A rabbit ventures home and ponders on what he sees. A great picture book for very young readers.

'The Way Home in the Night' by Akiko Miyakoshi is one of those rare, beautiful going to bed books for the little ones. I loved the mood it evokes of night in the city.

A mother rabbit is carrying her young bunny home through the darkening streets of the city. They see a bookstore closing for the day, and lights from a television flickering in a window. They smell a pie being baked and see a party. Young bunny thinks about all these things as sleep descends, as well as people saying goodbye and taking lonely train rides home.

I was drawn to this book by the beautiful art on the cover and the book is full of the same thing. The mood is quiet and peaceful, but has a range of emotions in the stories that are shown. Little bunny is quiet and sleepy. This is a top notch book for bedtime reading.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this phenomenal children's book.

A little rabbit is carried home at night, noticing the various activities of others and while going to bed she imagines what each of them must be doing at that moment.

Miyakoshi’s illustrations are so mesmerizingly enchanting! They’re mostly black and white with subtle dashes of color. Her little protagonist rabbit is so believably curious (well, if the little rabbit were a little child like her readers). Kids will totally identify with wondering about the lives of their neighbors and the strangers they pass in the streets. That cast of animals is hard to resist too. Almost realistic kangaroos and billy goats and rabbits and reindeer and more - it’s a wild set of characters all doing perfectly normal nighttime activities like brushing their teeth and saying goodnight. Lots of fun. Recommended for a bedtime read aloud, for animal lovers, those curious kids who wonder what strangers do after they’re out of sight, and anyone who loves enchanting illustrations. Oh, and if you’re looking for Japanese books translated into English, snatch this up too. Will definitely make sure the elementary library at our school gets a copy.

A mother bunny carries her little bunny home at night. Narrated in the first person by the young bunny, readers see what he sees from the its vantage point in bunny's mother's arms. Shops are closing; phones ring; bunny smells a pie. Neighbors have parties, watch television, and say goodbye, all visible through their open windows. As the father bunny tucks the little one into bed, little bunny wonders about all the neighbors: are the party guests saying goodnight? Is the restaurant cook taking a bath, and is the bookseller reading on the couch?

Children love being out at night. It's a magical thing; everything looks different. The bunny's descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells of night time, carried in mother's arms, will appeal to readers who have had the same experience. The story also provides an opportunity for interactivity - ask kids to think of a time they, like the bunny, were carried home, and what they remember. Take your own kids outside at night for a walk down the street - what do you see together?

Akiko Miyakoshi's black and white pencil, charcoal, and acrylic gouache artwork adds gently placed color for emphasis, and the hazy look to the artwork makes the story almost dreamlike; like the young bunny's sleepy memory. Invite kids to draw their neighborhood at night - what are the neighbors doing? Do they hear cars, people talking, a train rumbling by, a dog bark, or silence?

The beautifully illustrated children’s book The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi is a wonderful addition to your kid lit collection. The simple story tells the story of a young bunny’s walk home with her mother.

The black and white illustrations work to highlight the different activities taking place in her neighbor’s windows. Who is cooking? Who is reading? Who is having a party? Who is sleeping? The neutral colors allow readers glimpses into various scenarios while imagining what takes place in homes other than their own every night.

This is another hit for the award winning author and illustrator, Akiko Miyakoshi. If your little ones have curious minds, I recommend this book. The illustrations alone make it worthy of your attention.

This is a gentle story of a mother carrying her young bunny home after dark. What the young one sees, hears and senses during this night time walk. There are lights into people's homes or shops, hints at others' experiences. Those lozenges of light bring warmth to the street. And when the little one gets home and to bed, there is the reliving of the walk, imagining how everything turned out for those in the small interludes he saw: the party under way, the pie out of the oven, etc. So much to think about before falling asleep.

I really like Miyakoshi's illustrations as I have in the previous books I have enjoyed. They are soft, evocative, primarily charcoal and white with limited expressive uses of color, bring out the comparisons in the story so well--here the warm lights shining in the night, the warm and friendly sounds of friends and family brighten the darkness. The larger scenes show a city with some lights on throughout the city while the bunny sees only the moon from its bed.

I do recommend this book as I have recommended The Tea Party in the Woods and The Storm in the past. A great night time/bedtime book to recap the day.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is my third Akiko Miyakoshi's and it was wonderful as usual.
I fell in love since the first time I saw the cover.
It was really beautifully illustrated and the story simply reminds me of my childhood.
How we, as a kid often wonders what others do out there after the last time we saw them, we heard them, and all of those things.

I love it very much.
I recommend you to read all of Miyakoshi's book!

I read through this book several times because it intrigued me, and I was struggling to form an opinion on the book. I came back to it a week later and saw a whole new perspective on it, I had never not liked it but I now had a firm grip on what it was I thought about it.

First and foremost, the illustrations were the story to me. The text didn't really matter to me as there was so much to see in the textured looking drawings. Lights in doorways, bikes leaning on buildings, baby rabbit, the moon and balloons all adorned the pages at some point in the book. They tell me a story of parties, a street at night, bed time and people waiting for someone to come home. I could go on for sometime about how much I enjoyed the illustrations and the impact they had on me, but overall they were just delightful.

The actual story in the form of words appealed to me the least. On some pages I felt like the words got lost in the darker parts of the illustrations. It was however, endearing that the little rabbit was smelling, seeing, and hearing things as he was being carried home in his sleepy state. Once the bunny got home that is where the story lost me and seemed to change pace.

I really did enjoy this book despite my aversion to some of the text and I will still recommend this book to storytellers, parents and children to read. I believe this book will mean something different to everyone that reads it, that everyone will enjoy varying aspects of the book and will be drawn in for different reasons.

I recommended this book for ages 4 and over.

A cute story, gorgeously illustrated. I liked the little rabbit's curiousity as he wondered what the people he passed were up to, and what the sounds and smells he encountered might signify. I can imagine plenty of discussion coming from this with children keen to share their own stories of travelling home at night.

Akiko Miyakoshi’s The Way Home in the Night portrays a little bunny being taken home by her mother late at night, when the city becomes very different. But rather than being frightening, it’s a speculative city where the bunny wonders about the neighborhood residents she glimpses through their lit windows. Where do the restauranteur and bookseller go after they close? What about the party at the neighbor’s? That great smelling pie, who will eat that?

The little bunny undertakes the type of wondering we all do when we glance through a window into another life. That sense of wonder and the beautifully rendered pencil drawing make for a delightful read-aloud picture book for young and old.