The Twilight Library - Carmen Oliver - ★★★

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AUTHOR: Carmen Oliver
ILLUSTRATOR: Miren Asiain Lora
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: September 6, 2022
RATING: 3 stars.

Mixed feelings for this one. I didn’t find it engaging enough.

Yays:
- Great idea with a librarian who calls out to little critters at night to tell them a story.
- The words create a vivid picture in your mind about the natural world and its gentle sights and soothing sounds.
- No forced rhyming verses.
- Colourful watercolour-style illustrations that would be wonderful on paper.

Nays:
- There’s no proper story in the book. A major chunk of the plot is reserved for the arrival of the critters in response to the call. It was over before it even began.
- The prose is quite descriptive but it doesn’t flow smoothly enough for a bedtime read-aloud. There are a few difficult words for this reading level.
- Children’s picture books are usually either for fun or for a moralising purpose. This is neither.
- I wasn’t a fan of the formatting. (I hope this is just an ARC-related problem.)

Basically, it might work as a bedtime story, but I wouldn’t call it a must-have book. Kids who love looking at pictures without bothering about the plot will love it for sure.

My thanks to North South Books Inc. and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Twilight Library”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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