Kazuno KoharaCritiques

Summer in the big city is hot, and little long-haired dachshund Hot Dog has had enough! His owner takes him to the beach so they can have a little break.

A lovely picture book with minimal words. There are so many children’s books idolizing suburbia that I’m cautious about those that discuss the negatives of living in a city, but at the end of the book Hot Dog is happy to be back at home after his nice day at the beach. Plus, they take the train to the beach! What a treat.½

Genre
Picture books for children
Tone
Amusing
Illustration
Minimally colored
Subject
Cats
Child witches
Ghosts
Girls
Haunted houses
Laundry
Moving, Household
Washing machines
Witches

This has been one of my absolute favorites for years. Cute characters, a friendly but quick story, and beautiful bold pictures. It was only when a first grader asked me "but what is the book about?" that I realized it was also a fun little overview of library services, including the community room/activities, assistance in finding and selecting books, and circulation services.

This review originally published at The Children's Book and Media Review

A little girl goes to live in an old house at the edge of town, but the house is haunted. It’s a good thing that the girl isn’t just any girl. She’s also a witch! She knows how to catch ghosts, which is a good thing because she has quite a few that she needs to catch. She puts them in the washing machine and then hangs them on the clothesline to dry. Afterwards, they become great curtains, tablecloths, and blankets so that they can all live happily ever after.

This book has a great mix of Halloween fun that combines scariness with sweetness. The illustrations are all orange, black, and white, creating a Halloween feel with the contrast. The text is very simple, but the illustrations make the book more amusing. Some people might have a problem with how the witch transforms the ghosts to suit her needs, but the ghosts look smiling and happy in their new roles. This book should please even very young Halloween fans.

"'What is the matter, Miss Wolf?' asked the little librarian. 'Something very sad happened in my story and I can't read it anymore,' replied the wolf."

I feel you, miss wolf.

The best part of this book is the stubborn tortoise who gets his library book tied to his shell with ribbon by two library owls.

A little librarian and her three owl assistants keep the eponymous Midnight Library running smoothly in this sweet picture-book from Japanese author/illustrator Kazuno Kohara. Helping all of the animal patrons find that right book, making sure the squirrel band finds a place to practice their music, reassuring a distraught little wolf that her story will turn out well, the librarian keeps busy...

Having enjoyed Kohara's Ghosts in the House! and Here Comes Jack Frost!, I decided to track down The Midnight Library, and I'm glad that I did. The simple text and cute, graphically-striking artwork combine to create an appealing little confection of a picture-book, one that would make an excellent bedtime read-aloud, especially for young children who love the library.

A little girl moonlights as a librarian at a night-time library. When a few animals start causing problems, she finds solutions as only a librarian can. This is a great book for future librarians and any bibliophile.

I wasn't going to put this up on Goodreads, but goll darn, this is such a cute book! Not only is this such a cute book, it is a cute book about libraries. HECK YEAH! This young librarian runs a special library which is only open at night, and she has three owl assistants. The library is populated by animal patrons, some who have obstacles which the librarian and her assistants help them overcome. I love the art work and how cute all the characters are. I think this would be an excellent book to read to kids in Kindergarten and preschool. A charming book about this special library. Very, very glad I checked this out from the library.

The sun goes down, the stars flicker on, and the Midnight Library opens its doors...

I saw this picture book featured on my own library's website a couple of days ago and thought it sounded too cute not to put a request on. Kohara's story features a library that's only open from midnight to dawn, visited by adorable book-loving animals, and employs helpful owls as library assistants (...Are they hiring? Because I will put in my two weeks notice right now).

Illustrated in colors of yellow moonlight and deep blue shadows, this whimsical children's book is sure to make any reader wish that they could be "the little librarian" at their own woodland branch.

Lauren B recommended for storytime

"Once there was a library that opened only at night..."

A little girl and her three owl assistants run the library, solving their patrons' problems in creative ways.

Illustrations are created by printmaking, with black, mustard yellow, and dim navy blue.

A little ghost goes through a house and at each turn a new scary monster joins his group. At the end of the book the monsters meet up with the scariest monster of all to them which is a little boy.

Érase una vez una biblioteca que abría sólo por la noche... Entra en la biblioteca nocturna y conoce a una pequeña y simpática bibliotecaria y a sus tres búho-ayudantes.

Imagine a library open only at night, frequented by owls, tortoises, wolves, squirrels and other animals and you have the premise for this simple picture book. Because the tortoise is slowly reading his book at the library, the little girl librarian suggests that he get a library card to check out his book and continue reading it at home. The woodcut illustrations in tones of black, blue and gold are clear and perfect at setting the evening atmosphere. This is a good picture book for young preschoolers who are discovering libraries.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

The book, The Midnight Library, was very educational and entertaining to read. Although The Midnight Library did contain elements of a modern fantasy book, I liked it because the characters were easily relatable since the author, Kazuno Kohara, gave the animal characters human-like characteristics. “Every night, animals came to the library from all over the town. And the little librarian and her three assistant owls helped each and every one find a perfect book.” This quote shows that the animals could be like humans and visit a local library. It also portrays owls as librarian assistants, doing daily tasks like sorting books or helping people locate books. Any child that has been to a library can understand what tasks the owls would perform. The book also gave the characters emotions. “But sitting on top of a bookshelf she found a wolf! And she was crying so much her tears fell like rain…’Something very sad happened in my story and I can’t read it anymore,’ replied the wolf.” Here the author uses the characters to relate to the audience by showing the wolf cry and react emotionally to a story.
The illustrations in the book also help bring the book to life. On several pages, animals are displayed reading books, carrying books, or searching for books. Near the end of the story, the librarian and assistant owls allow a tortoise to borrow a book from the library and take home. The illustrations on this page show each step of the librarian signing out the book for the tortoise. On the next page, the tortoise is seen happily leaving the library with his book. I believe that these illustrations help promote a positive attitude about the public library and what it can be used for. Overall, the big idea or central message of the story is that librarians are there to help with any needs and make your library experience a good one. It also shows that the public library is a welcoming place of comfort to utilize and share a mutual love of reading.

There once was a little librarian with three owl assistants who ran a library that opened only at night and served all kinds of animals. This is the story of one night at that library, in which the little librarian and her assistants find practice space for a noisy band of squirrels, help a tortoise get a library card, and more.

This is a fun book that still manages to teach small children about the types of things that are available at their local library. For that reason, I brought it along with me for outreach at some local preschools, where even the youngest children (age 3) listened attentively and enjoyed the book.

The illustrations are unique and appealing, although a bit difficult to describe. The entire book has a background of a bright yellow and all of the illustrations are black or blue. The effect is of illustrations that "pop" off the page. The pages are neither sparse nor cluttered, providing accurate visuals to accompany the text with just a few extra details.

A witch and her cat move into a haunted house and creatively find ways to make use of the ghosts in their new home. This easy read is illustrated with only three colors: orange, black, and white, which make counting easy to integrate for emergent readers.

This book is about a girl or goes to a haunted house in her town. She turns out to be a witch and while shes at the house she catches all the ghosts there and turns them into things like curtains, tablecloths, and blankets. The book ends by showing the girl asleep in the house with text saying "happily ever after". I thought this book was average for a variety of reasons. For one, the illustrations were relatively plain. The book only uses orange, black, and white to go along with the Halloween theme of the book but it's rather boring looking at the same colors for each page. Secondly, I didn't think the writing was very engaging. The writing kind of had a monotone style to it with nothing really exciting or surprising happening. For example, in one line it reads, "I hope there are more!" (talking about ghosts) then the next line reads, "and there were." Then the book just suddenly moves to the girl going to the kitchen and to the washing machine without any real explanation of why. I thought the plot was rather boring and didn't give any feeling of suspense or tension while reading.½

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara is about a little girl who is a witch but has a big problem; her house is haunted. She and her cat go to great lengths to get rid of the pesky ghosts, such as washing them and hanging them out to dry, using them as linens and hanging them as drapes, just to name a few examples. The illustrations are wonderful here; all shades of orange, black and white. This book has an obvious halloween "feel" to it, which most children will relate to and enjoy. This would be a great book to read in the classroom during October!

The blue and white linocut illustrations are what make this book; they're striking and simple and just make you feel frozen!

I love Kazuno Kohara's style, and this is my favorite of her books.

Read on December 23, 2015

This is the most perfect book set in a library (EVER!). It very sweetly shows the many roles of a librarian and gives examples of library etiquette and many ways of using the library-- band practice in an activity room, getting a library card so books can go home with a book lover, reader's advisory for everyone, and dealing with those folks that just don't want to leave.

Kazuno Kohara does the most adorable, simple picture books - but with substance! They're not just fluff.

Last year I added this book to my 1st Grade Library Visit program and it was a huge hit with the kids. Appropriately, my 1st grade visits are always the end of October.

The story begins with a special library that opens only at night. The little librarian and her assistant owls are having a peaceful, if busy, evening when the rush begins - squirrels looking for somewhere to practice their band concert, a wolf crying because her story is unhappy, and finally a turtle who doesn't want to leave until he finishes his story. Finally, the animals are gone and it only remains for the librarian to pick out a special bedtime book for the owls.

Kohara's distinctive illustrations are two-color creations with thick, black lines. They're almost like woodcuts, but for younger kids. This book is told in yellow and blue, which is perfect for that just slightly shivery feeling of scary for the really little kids without being really frightening. Cute animals, towering bookshelves, and trees give the library a welcoming, exuberant feeling.

One of the things I love most about this book, and what makes it perfect for my library visit tours, is what an excellent job Kohara does of capturing a modern library with space for everyone. First, there's the fact that it's open at night to accommodate the animals who can't come during the day. When the squirrels are noisy they aren't asked to leave - they're shown to an activity room where they can practice. The little librarian always has a helpful response to whatever questions are thrown at her and she stays cheerful and friendly throughout her busy night.

Verdict: This is a perfect book for a toddler Halloween storytime or to welcome new friends to the library, assuring them there is room for everyone! Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781596439856; Published 2014 by Roaring Brook Press; Purchased for the library

17 months/29 months - Love love love the illustrations and the story. I can't even imagine reading supremacy into this story, but I guess you can warp the cutest of things into something horrible if you try hard enough. I saw this as a scared little girl and her cat move into a new (to them) big house and instead of letting it get to her she takes charge and dresses up to be a witch with her costume (and a black cat costume for her kitty) and conquer her fears... Ghosts aren't real, they're just sheets that, with a good washing, can be used for drapes, table clothes or bed sheets.

Real love the woodblock style of illustrations. The story is cute, simple about basic functions in a library good for a very small child.

This is about a girl that has a haunted house, with ghosts! which would be scary for most people but she is a witch and knows how to handle it. she catches the ghost and puts them in the dryer and makes them into household items, such as table clothes and sofa covers. this is a weird, yet fun and spooky book. though i wish it had more color because i got bored of the orange.