Eve Bunting
SMOKY NIGHT
by Ms. Bunting
illustrated by David
Diaz
Caldecott Award Winner for 1995
Eve Bunting portrays the night of the Los Angeles riots from
the point of view of a child with a pet cat. The child watches
from the apartment window as people destroy and steal property
belonging to others. Although he and his mother attempt to sleep
that night, they are awakened by their neighbors shout of fire as
their burning apartment building adds to the already smoky air of
the night. They escape the building, but the boy's cat isn't
found. Hustled to a shelter, the boy watches the other people who
have had to seek the shelter and discovers a neighbor who has
also lost a cat, a cat who the boy thinks is fat and mean. Both
cats are returned by a firefighter who found them huddled
together beneath some stairs. The cats become a lesson in the
value of tolerance and being open minded. The boy discovers how
his neighbor and her cat aren't so bad after all.
The riots of Los Angeles were an example of how violence
begets violence. Smoky Night is an example of how peace
and tolerance can be salvaged out of the violence to help mend
hearts and minds.
David Diaz supplements his vivid oil painting with the
textures and shapes of everyday items to provide a striking
background of reality next to the impressionism of his art work.
You can see paper, cloth, hangers, plastic bags, cereal,
cardboard, broken glass, shoe soles, etc. Each page has an
incredible amount of symbolism intermingling with the story
itself. Each time I look at the book I see even more.
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Sixth
Grade Sleepover
Sequoyah Award Winner, Children's, 1989
Reading level: Ages 9-12
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Nasty,
Stinky Sneakers
Sequoyah Award Winner, Children's, 1997
Reading level: Ages 9-12
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"Eight million old, used and rare books offered
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world ... " from introduction on Bibliofind.
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