First-time author Barbara DaCosta's short, descriptive phrases build suspense and grab readers' attention as a small ninja-robed figure goes on an adventure in the night.
When the clock strikes midnight, the ninja climbs and creeps his way through a home where everyone sleeps. He reaches his destination, removes his tools and begins his work. Undetected, someone flips on the lights! Towering over this nighttime ninja, in a floral patterned robe and arms akimbo, is... his mother. Young's textured collages move from dark and mysterious to brightly lit, as the authority captures the kitchen culprit and calls for him to hand over his treasure (a bowl of ice cream). Once portrayed as a mighty ninja, the child now looks up with pleading eyes. With stuffed panda in hand, the boy and his mother embark on a "getting-back-to-bed mission."
This inventive blending of imagination and the age-old routine of evading bedtime will speak to children and parents alike. --Mollie Welsh Kruger, instructor, Bank Street College of Education