Kris Sauer (Children's Literature)
Incorporating the ideas of Henry David Thoreau, this book sends children on an enchanting nighttime journey through the woods. In this, the fifth title in the series, Henry--an inquisitive dog--sets off on a moonlit night in search of the elusive night bird. Leaving his village behind, he tromps through the woods, captures fireflies, explores ponds, and goes for a ride on a magical raft, all in search of the rarely seen bird. This charming book has illustrations that somehow manage to capture the mystery and depth of nature’s evening magic. Small drawings in the borders of the text illustrate and give facts about various plants and animals Henry finds on his walk. These found items include field crickets, fireflies, barn swallows, white pine needles, porcupines, red fox, meadow mushrooms, and frogs’ eggs to name but a few. Using a lyrical style, this is an excellent book that would serve as a wonderful read-aloud for any elementary classroom. In addition, the book could easily serve as an introduction to a poetry unit or in support of a science unit exploring nature, insects, frogs and/or birds. 2009, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, $16.00. Ages 4 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 5))
From Henry Hikes to Fitchburg (2000) on, Johnson has surpassed all conventional biographers in presenting Thoreau's philosophy and spirit in ways that will make sense to younger readers. Here, in the series's fifth outing, he and co-author Michelin wax a bit more poetic and oblique, pairing a present-tense, free-verse journal entry to atmospherically dim scenes of the narrator (or rather, his ursine stand-in) walking, and later floating, through clouds of fireflies and cubist glimmers of rain and moonlight. Unable to sleep one birthday evening, Thoreau slips out of his bedroom and into the branches of a beech tree in hopes of finding an elusive whippoorwill. His search continues into the woods and then onto a clouded lake ("White fog spreads wide— / it rolls from edge to edge / of all I see. / How will I get home? / I make a raft of branches…") where the night bird comes to him, perching on his head and, later, as morning brightens, singing him to sleep. A great bedtime read, as mysterious and thought-provoking as a zen koan. 2009, Houghton Mifflin, 32p, $16.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 6 to 10, and adult. Starred Review. © 2009 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.