The Midnight Fair

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It’s really short, and I would have loved more to the story, but it was very sweet and lovely. I do note that some readers had an issue with releasing a species where it doesn’t belong, and I feel that adults could talk to the children about why that’s a lovely sentiment, but why it’s not the best idea for the animals involved. That didn’t take away from the sweetness of the story for me. Gideon Sterer is an American author whose books include Skyfishing, illustrated by Poly Bernatene, Not Your Nest, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, From Ed’s to Ned’s, illustrated by Ruth Cummins, and The Night Knights, illustrated by Cory Godbey, which has been optioned by Sony Pictures. Gideon grew up in the woods of upstate New York, where his parents owned a little zoo where he would run around after-hours and let the animals out.

The Midnight Fair | Penguin Random House Retail The Midnight Fair | Penguin Random House Retail

As with many wordless picture books, The Midnight Fairunfolds over a sequence of panels that recall comics/graphic novels. The fact that it is told without words is a great leveller: Pre-readers may be unable to handle the written word, but that doesn’t disqualify them as storytellers. And there’s plenty of detail in the visually stimulating Midnight Fairto spark the imagination. (The wordless nature of the story can also be considered an extension of the ‘silent spreads’ you sometimes find in picture books (for example, Where the Wild Things Are).) The two medal winners were chosen from a shortlist of 16 – eight for each medal – by an expert team of volunteer judges, featuring 14 librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group based across the UK. The winners were revealed in a lunchtime in-person ceremony at The British Library for the first time since 2019. It was hosted by award-winning poet and novelist Dean Atta and featured Chair of Judges, librarian Jennifer Horan, alongside a selection of the young people who officially shadowed the 2022 awards.

Now available worldwide, Yoto have won awards and accolades from critics, parents and children alike. TIME Magazine even named it one of the Best Inventions of 2020 and the Mini won a prestigious D&AD Pencil in 2022. Gideon Sterer and and Mariachiara Di Giorgio’s The Midnight Fair may be a wordless picture book, but its story is clear, compelling and utterly enchanting. . .Through clever use of framing and perspective, Sterer and Di Giorgio invite readers to be a part of each moment…Every inch of illustrator Di Giorgio’s art is captivating, from a scene in which the silhouetted creatures’ eyes glow in the dusk as they emerge from the woods to a poignant moment by the lake near the story’s end. But when the carnival lights come on, her illustrations become truly spellbinding. Gleaming and golden, The Midnight Fair radiates magic. It’s truly exceptional. I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly!

The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer, Mariachiara Di Giorgio

The books were praised by Chair of Judges Jennifer Horan for their ability to “build empathy” and “offer hope, comfort and enjoyment.” Both winners gave powerful speeches at the ceremony sharing their passion about the freedom and connection that stories in all forms can provide young readers, and the paramount importance of children being allowed and encouraged to read whatever they choose. My other problem with the message of this goldfish liberation is that you should never introduce a non native species anywhere, I think in some places this would be illegal. Sadly England has virtually no red squirrels left because of the non native grey squirrels that were introduced, they are also threatening our door mice. Goldfish are also a very fragile specie of fish, unlike the more hardy shubunkins you can introduce them to de-chlorinated, established ponds with UV filters, water fountains for oxygen and they will still die because they are very sensitive to change, stress and a change in water temperature. Goldfish treated as fair prizes will almost certainly die. With the help of a pair of crafty racoons, the funfair is suddenly brought to life. As if casting off their ‘wildness’ for one magical evening, the animals, now anthropomorphised, do everything the humans did earlier: buy popcorn, doughnuts, sweets and take part in the games and attractions, chase sugar-addled cubs and win huge cuddly versions of themselves. A young wolf cub, who looks slightly befuddled when it wins a goldfish, is particularly humorous, and a bearer of a poignant message for later. While some may criticize the book for its use of animals eating human junk food and humans taking over aka deforestation, the books' focus is on the FUN of the fair, the imagery and sensory thoughts that will fill the readers' head without so much as a word spoken, and how they co-habit (in a sense). It also opens up endless questions and conversations including what flavor of ice cream would a bear eat? Are nocturnal animals afraid of haunted houses? what is your favorite theme park ride? What animal would you ride on the carousel?'

YLG has 12 regional committees covering all of the UK, and each committee advertises and democratically recruits a judge to represent them on the panel of judges. Each judge serves a two-year term and each year the panel is a unique mix of new and experienced judges led by the Chair of Judges. Following the independent diversity review of the Awards, CILIP introduced a co-opting procedure so that if this recruitment process does not result in a sufficiently diverse and representative judging panel, up to two judges will be co-opted to join the panel. The Costa-winning children’s book The Crossing by Manjeet Mann and Cane Warriors by former Guardian children’s fiction prize winner Alex Wheatle are among those in contention for this year’s Yoto Carnegie medal for the best children’s novel.

The Midnight Fair | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

One of my favorite moments is towards the end (but I can't tell you..) something involving a wolf... In case you missed it in the blurb, this book is wordless, it is filled to the brim with glorious illustrations that bring the tale to life. The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit membership organisation set up by writers, for writers. The book is quite dark in colour as the story is set at night-time. The animals including a bear, rabbits, deer, raccoon, cat, fox, and many many more, watch for all the people heading home from the fair waiting for their turn to enjoy themselves. The book doesn’t state where the fair is but judging by one of the stalls being ‘cotton candy’ and the price in dollars I can only presume it is in America.

This book is so lovely. It takes the shared experience of a county fair for humans and turns it into something strange and wondrous. There are so many moments caught in the images here: a porcupine covered in sweets, a fawn managing to ride a carousel horse, a rabbit whizzing by on the swing ride, and a bear cub buying ice cream with acorns. One after another, the image This was a short, sweet, beautifully illustrated story about animals who decide to visit a fair once all the humans go home. Like The Arrival by Shaun Tan, this is a book where the pictures tell the story. It’s shorter and less complex than Tan’s book, but very enjoyable. I could see getting a copy to share with my little nephews and niece. Fish as prizes in fairs is an appalling cruelty, a view which the author shares. I would hate a child to read this and get the idea that they could help a fish in this way too. The best way people can stop this cruel practice is to push for legislation to get it banned. Boycott fairs that use this, let them know why. Even if you take a fish away and try to give it a good environment, chances are the tap water they have been put into will have poisoned them with chlorine if the fright of being hung up in a fair doesn't kill them first. Every fish that is taken away means they will get more because it is making them money. It would be like buying a live lobster in a supermarket to set it free, tempting as it is you would just be creating more demand for cruelty. in my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf My only possible criticism is I think the artwork would have even more “pop” if printed on glossy paper.

Children’s Books: ‘The Midnight Fair’ Review - WSJ Children’s Books: ‘The Midnight Fair’ Review - WSJ

The winner of the Shadowers’ Choice Award for the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal is The Midnight Fair (Walker Books ) illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio ­– an illustrator, storyboard artist and concept designer from Rome, Italy – and written by Gideon Sterer. It is a heart-warming, immersive wordless picture book that uncovers the secret life of animals who prowl a fairground at night, featuring sumptuous use of colour and contrast, which invoke all the senses.This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by I believe that kids are empowered when they have access to all kinds of books, and can choose for themselves what they want to read. Graphic novels can be an especially engaging form of reading, and a gateway to all types of literature. But graphic novels are also an extraordinary, complex, versatile medium in themselves, not dumbed down versions of “real” books. You wouldn’t discourage a kid from going to a museum to look at paintings or sculptures or photography, so why would you tell them not to look at artwork in a book? Images are visceral in a different way than text, and when an artwork moves you, it’s speaking to you in a different language than words. There is no single way to tell a story, and graphic novels are one fascinating way to express emotions and ideas that can’t be put into words alone.”