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Book Review of One Dark and Scary Night (Little Bill for Beginning Readers)

One Dark and Scary Night (Little Bill for Beginning Readers)
annalovesbooks avatar reviewed on
Helpful Score: 3


ISBN 0590514768 - It never occurred to me to think that the magic in this book could possibly be construed as bad until a review mentioned it. If you're one of THOSE parents, skip this book. If you're normal, however, I'm sure you'll find it at least as fun and funny as your child does.

Little Bill's afraid. He's not actually afraid of the dark - he's afraid of what's IN the dark. Specifically, in his closet. His mother packs him right back into bed when he takes cover in his parents' room, so the next time he runs, he runs to Alice the Great, his great-grandmother. She tries a few different approaches, including offering to switch rooms with Little Bill, before finally introducing him to the magic way his quilt can protect him from the things with things in his closet.

The first thing to catch my attention was the dedication to Cosby's son, Ennis, who was dyslexic, which says "Hello, friend" - these are also the first words of the book AND the name of the foundation created in his name by his parents after his death. Just a nice touch, I thought. The style is absolutely perfect - you can almost hear the words coming out of the mouth of a kid, even while you can hear Bill Cosby saying them. Cosby has never lost the ability to speak in that voice, which makes him very good at telling a story to, and about, them. Lines like "I had to talk fast because if you talk slowly, they send you back to bed." couldn't come from anyone else. Great easy reader, a tale they can relate to and illustrations by Honeywood that suit the book perfectly. (Back cover says RL 2.0, ages 6 - 10)

- AnnaLovesBooks