The Dark

"You might be afraid of the dark, but the dark is not afraid of you. That's why the dark is always close by."Jon Klassen is one of my favourite artists, so this book has been on my list of ones to get for a while now (I like to have them in hardback).This story was a clever, slightly creepy, look at a child's fear of the dark. I'm guessing, as kids, this is one fear that we all may go through, to varying degrees at some point. The dark has a way of hiding things, and making once familiar things take a more sinister turn as the darkness descends onto them. If you have an active imagination, you can conjure all manner of beasts and other nasty things that may be lurking there. The story is perfectly joined by Klassen's illustrations - often when reading a book illustrated by him, I find myself wishing that I could put some of the art on my walls.A great book. One that I would hope children enjoy as well - I loved it.

We loved this story - fantastic for allaying the fears of young ones. Love the classic Klassen illustrations - perfectly suited the story.

This book is brilliant; my class and I loved it. The illustrations are fantastic and it's a great way to introduce the topic of light and dark, or to help a child who is afraid of the dark. Lemony Snicket is one of my favourite authors.

My son loves this book (so do I). He loves how ladslo cope with the dark. Great message about there is no reason to be afraid of the dark, so important at this age. My son is using his torch 🔦 now a days like the main character. People may find it a bit dark but I find very quirky.

Bought this story for my 3 year old who sometimes gets frightened during the night and will come to tell me and her dad that she is scared of the dark and of the monsters. We rectified the monsters problem by using lavender spray as a 'monster repellent' and we gave her a starry night light, we stumbled across this book and were excited about it as we're fans of Lemony Snicket!At first, the dark appears as spooky in the book, my daughter asked lots of questions while I read it! We eventually learned what happened as we finished the book and it turned out to be very heart warming and nice, which my daughter enjoyed. There is another book i'd like to get called 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark' which I have read to classes of children, it would couple nicely with The Dark story!

Oh wow! My 8yo is not afraid of the dark anymore. Tip: read the book, and at the end present your child with a new night light as though its a present from the character (the dark) in the story. Even if they already have a night light - just get them another one and you'll see what I mean once you've read the story together.

Brilliant, beautiful

An amazing and very clever personification of The Dark. Wonderful, simple and ever so slightly creepy- but with a lovely heartwarming ending. Suitable for children of all ages- my year 1 class really enjoyed reading this.

Absolutely stunning book, such a cute story making "The Dark" into a character. The pages and print work is top notch. The only thing I might say is the book is a bit large for a toddler to handle with their little hands. Not a big deal, though. Loved it!

Lovely book on exploring fears for children!

Sono un'illustratrice e l'ho trovato molto utile per i miei studi sull'illustrazione per l'infanzia. Consigliatissimo a chi apprezza e condivide questo mondo.

”You might be afraid of the dark, but the dark is not afraid of you. That’s why the dark is always close by.”Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen were put on this Earth to make books together. Two authors with styles and skills that complement each other in an “oh-my-oh-my” the world is a wonderful place after all kind of way. Pure magic! A collaboration that captures Laszlo’s late night chat with the dark perfectly.Our tale comes to life with natural, stark, stripped down to the heart of the matter pages filled with darkness and light. Young Laszlo is afraid of the dark, but an unexpected voice helps him see that you can’t have light without dark. Can’t have one without the other.The color black lives and breathes in the pages of this book. An intense, deep color that pulls readers in with mystery and power. I have never seen or felt blacker pages. Black cat black. Witch’s cauldron black. The lights just went out type black. Quick! Close your eyes! THAT is captured here on the page! But so was the light. Turn the page and a stunning, natural glow of color warms the story with daylight. I could feel the warmth of the wood floor and sun shining in. Truly a dazzling book to flip through for the color and art alone.Then the words take shape and sink in. At first, the idea of the Dark having a voice gave me creepy chills down my spine. But in a sly, quirky, matter of fact, Snickety way-- Laszlo’s fears (and mine) turned to ease, courage, and wisdom.”without the dark, everything would be light, and you would never know if you needed a lightbulb”I love this book. A true classic that has found a warm, bright, well-lit spot on my favorites shelf. :)

Amazing book with great story and art. Kids are enjoying it a lot. Dad loves it too. Have to read it several times a week now ...