Book Descriptions
for The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer and Mariachiara Di Giorgio
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A wordless picture book details what happens at a local fair once the humans go home for the night. It turns out the woodland animals have been biding their time and stream in as soon as the coast is clear. Some work the fair, selling tickets, running games and rides, making food; others enjoy all the fair has to offer, dizzy and dazzled by the lights, the games, and, especially, the rides. Scenes that give a sense of nighttime mystery alternate with the bright, bouncing energy of the fair, but all good things come to an end. There’s a close call when a guard returns just before dawn, but by then the animals have finished cleaning up (most of) the mess and evidence of their escapades. Superb watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations tell the story in panel and full-page images full of humor (long-legged deer dangling from seats on the swing carousel; a goldfish prize for a fox at the ring toss) and sometimes poignancy (the tender, surprising fate of the goldfish at story’s end). (Ages 3-8)
CCBC Choices 2022. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
As darkness falls on the fairgrounds, the animals venture out of the woods for one magical, memorable night! An exhilarating wordless picture book.
Far from the city, but not quite the countryside, lies a fairground. When night comes and the fair is empty, something unexpected happens. Wild animals emerge from the forest, a brave raccoon pulls a lever, and the roller coasters and rides explode back into bright, neon life. It’s time for the woodland creatures to head to the fair! In a gorgeous wordless picture book, author Gideon Sterer and illustrator Mariachiara Di Giorgio offer an exuberant take on what animals are up to when humans are asleep. Suffused with color and light, the panel illustrations celebrate the inherent humor and joy in deer flying by on chair-swings, a bear winning a stuffed bear, three weasels carrying a soft pretzel, and a badger driving a bumper car. With thrills both spectacular and subtle, Midnight Fair will have readers punching their tickets again and again to revel in this fantastic nocturnal world.
Far from the city, but not quite the countryside, lies a fairground. When night comes and the fair is empty, something unexpected happens. Wild animals emerge from the forest, a brave raccoon pulls a lever, and the roller coasters and rides explode back into bright, neon life. It’s time for the woodland creatures to head to the fair! In a gorgeous wordless picture book, author Gideon Sterer and illustrator Mariachiara Di Giorgio offer an exuberant take on what animals are up to when humans are asleep. Suffused with color and light, the panel illustrations celebrate the inherent humor and joy in deer flying by on chair-swings, a bear winning a stuffed bear, three weasels carrying a soft pretzel, and a badger driving a bumper car. With thrills both spectacular and subtle, Midnight Fair will have readers punching their tickets again and again to revel in this fantastic nocturnal world.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
