#541 of 1001 · January 23, 2022

There’s more than meets the eye at first glance in this lightly suspenseful narrative with a playful twist: Barbara DaCosta and Ed Young’s Nighttime Ninja. In the dark, a grappling hook swings up and catches on a roof. A ninja stealthily enters the house and creeps from room to room. Finally he reaches his target, a tub of chocolate ice cream. But as he begins to eat, an adversary appears: his mother. DaCosta cleverly disguises the ninja’s identity as a young boy, presenting his youthful excursion in search of forbidden treats through the lens of his imagination. Young’s mixed-media illustrations, a combination of cut paper, textured cloth, string, and colored pencil, skillfully evoke the visual trappings of ninja lore. #nighttime #ninja #night #icecream #imagination #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks