Librarian's Quest: When Darkness Settles

There is no sleep. Dreams are not dreamed. Wishes are not made. No day is complete or concludes without it. What is this priceless phenomenon?

It is the need for story. It is the longing to hear or read that which another believes is important for us to hear or read. The Twilight Library (North|South Books, September 6, 2022) written by Carmen Oliver with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora takes readers into an enchanting world. In this world, a special being in a special space uses the power of words to take listeners on a sensory journey to places their hearts desire.

The sun slips behind the horizon;

the creatures of the night awaken.

Someone is calling them.

This voice implores them to come. This voice wants to tell a tale. Do the creatures of the night listen? They do.

Some step lively to a rhythm. Others start, stop, and go again. Still more glide through the darkening skies, some lower to the ground and others high above the treetops.

Fireflies glow off and on and off and on. A soothing breeze whispers through stems and leaves. All these

creatures of the night

gather at The Twilight Library, anticipation filling their souls. The Night Librarian, a weaver of webs and words, moves closer to her listeners.

She takes them to a place alive with color. There, their hunger is satisfied by an array of food the likes royalty has never seen. They are enveloped by thoughts of their most beloved sanctuaries. They are asked to breathe wondrous odors and listen to nature's notable melodies. They, together as one, are transported to realms fashioned by their imaginations. All too soon dawn arrives. But . . .

These phrases penned by Carmen Oliver calm readers like a lullaby. Her blend of narrative and the words of the Night Librarian take us to one place before magic lifts us to another. Repetition of key words fashions a cadence. Alliteration draws us deeper into the spell cast by The Twilight Library and the storyteller residing there. We, like the

creatures of the night,

are completely captivated. Here is a passage.

Nighthawks wind through the canopy,

hunting for the voice that beckons.

"Come, come, come, my friends,

let me spin, spin you a story."

Readers get their first peek at the marvelous color palette used by artist Miren Asiain Lora for this book on the open dust jacket. Her hues depict the display of light prevalent when day is leaving and night is descending. The framing by leaves, stems and flowers on the front, right side, of the jacket is the same on the back, the side to the left of the spine.

On the front, notice the tiny creatures looking at the light of a moon rising from the pages of a book. Do you see the eyes shining from darkened nooks? On the back, the creatures are absent. Between the branches and stems, a single string of webbing is stretched. Hanging in the webbing are books, spines out. Two fireflies are moving left to right.

The book case presents two scenes. On the back, to the left of the spine, is a starlit sky with a crescent moon in the upper, right-hand corner. Two small trees rise above the ground along the bottom. The sky is immense. To the right of the spine, the sun is still above the horizon in a sky of peaches and pinks. Above this, a deepening blue and purple with a few stars indicate the coming of dusk.

The opening endpapers present us with a rolling dip in a meadow. A few butterflies make their way to the right. The sun is slowly heading toward the horizon. On the closing endpapers we have moved to the entrance/exit of The Twilight Library and the Night Librarian hanging there. Her storytelling is over for tonight. To the right, the crescent moon and a few lingering stars dot the sky. Along the horizon, a pink glow begins.

These illustrations were rendered using watercolor, gouache, and crayon. On the title page, a few strands of webbing are strung toward the title text along the bottom. The remainder of the double-page image is an eloquent sky as the sun sets. Each two-page picture throughout this title gives us either a panoramic view of a setting or brings us close to the

creatures of the night.

Readers will be fascinated by the details, looking for the tiny inhabitants of forest and field with each page turn. The plant life on close inspection appears somewhat exotic. The first view of The Twilight Library is gasp-worthy. When the Night Librarian begins the stories, we are shown a mix of reality and imagination in the visuals. Will readers notice the added detail to the appearance of the forest and field beings as the stories are told?

One of my many favorite illustrations is when we are very close to two fireflies going to The Twilight Library. The flowers, leaves and stems are enlarged, filling all of the right side and along the bottom on the left portion of the picture. Above the flowers, leaves, and stems on the left are a wide array of shimmering dots. Above them are the fireflies surrounded by glowing balls. There is a deep blue sky with a few seeds drifting on the breeze.

After reading this book, The Twilight Library written by Carmen Oliver with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora, readers will wonder how many such libraries are hidden in the gardens, parks, fields, and forests surrounding their homes. If they allow themselves to truly imagine, perhaps they might believe there are Twilight Libraries everywhere around the world. The beauty of the words and images in this title recognize and uplift the power of story. You will want a copy of this book in your professional and personal Twilight Libraries.

To learn more about Carmen Oliver and Miren Asiain Lora and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names. On Carmen Oliver's website are downloadable resources for this book. Carmen Oliver has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Miren Asiain Lora has an account on Instagram. Carmen Oliver wrote a guest post including the cover reveal for this book on author Cynthia Leitch Smith's Cynsations. You can view interior images at the publisher's website and at Simon & Schuster. At the publisher's website is a conversation with the illustrator about her work on this book.