In The Dark
Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of 2024
The Marginalian Favorite Children’s Books of 2023
Brightly Best Picture Books of 2023
SOI Original Art Show 2023 Juried Selection
Choose To Read Ohio 2024 Floyd’s Pick Honor Book
With striking illustrations that will make your soul fly and spare text that will make your heart dance, this lyrical picturebook encourages us to set aside our snap judgements and quiet our fears of the unknown by shining light on what has been kept in the dark.
They came in the dark,
and took the narrow path
that only witches used.
Everyone said that’s what they were . . .
But what if everyone was wrong? Watch what happens when one girl steps into the woods and gets to know these newcomers. The spooky black cat? Meet Mingus! The broomsticks and cloaks? Cloth and wooden handles. And those shadows in the sky? Handmade kites, fluttering in the breeze.
When the breeze becomes a blustery storm, everything changes…including first impressions.
Told from two perspectives, here is a gentle and timely reminder that all it takes to bridge the gap of misunderstanding and fear between people is an open and willing heart.
★ “Magical and astute, In the Dark sheds light on building community through kindness, compassion, and connection.”
— Booklist, Starred Review
“A story....told with a spare, lyrical prose that invites engagement. Luyken’s art....truly gives the feeling of an autumn bonfire glowing through the chilly shadows and brambles.”
-The New York Times
“A marvelous mix of autumnal spirits
with a deeper call for understanding.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“…a reminder that if we are willing to walk through the darkness not with fear but with curiosity, we are saved by wonder.”
-The Marginalian, Maria Popova
“With genuine emotion, the creators cleverly portray both the split community, and the whisperers’ remorse when they learn they are mistaken.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Hoefler's text is atmospheric and lyrical; Luyken's mixed-media art, in a limited palette using mostly black and yellow, excels at portraying the eeriness of the woods as well as their benign reality.”
– The Horn Book
“The simplicity of the two tales, which were inevitably headed for collision, combined with distilled use of colors, hidden by great inky sweeps of black, give this book the clarity of a church bell ringing in the distance. Readers will shake off the haunting beginning, but turn to it again. The story's lesson takes hold quietly and honestly.”
-School Library Journal
“What starts as a story of witches morphs into something quite different: a celebration of community and a reminder that our snap judgments can give way to unnecessary fear and distrust…a luminous display of firelight and friendship.”
-Melissa La Salle, What To Read To Your Kids