Noises at Night

"Booom, Booom rumbles thunder, my ears start to ring, A drum roll is playing, I'm ready to swing! I take a deep breath then I grab the trapeze, I glide through the air as I hang from my knees."

The Today Show
"Best book for young children."

Just for Mom's Foundation
"Mom's Choice Award 2007"
www.momschoiceawards.com

Zarina Mullan Plath ©2005 Parents' Choice
Usually, children's books about things that go bump in the night take one of two directions: The monster-under-the-bed plot or the it's-only-a-shadow approach. So it's refreshing to read Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner's Noises At Night, in which a wide-awake boy decides that nocturnal sounds are actually invitations to play. That dripping faucet? A pirate ship at sea. The hissing radiator? Only a snake he's charmed to sleep. The story is told in brisk rhyme as the little boy moves from adventure to adventure, and Bruce Whatley's light-on-dark acrylics add both action and humor (check out the Indiana Jones allusion). This book is an entertaining tuck-in read, and may also comfort young children who fear nighttime noises. Who knows, those mysterious sounds you hear upstairs after bedtime could turn out to be adventures in the making.

Kirkus, October 1, 2005
Nighttime, with all its shadows and sounds, can be disconcerting for even the most lion-hearted. In this tale, as the moonlight touches a little boy's quilt, he says, "I hear noises at night," as his and his dog's ears perk up. "I like to pretend when I shut off the light, / The noises turn into adventures at night!" --and thus the color palette changes from blues to brights. The sounds are first identified, and then imagined scenarios come into play. A vroom of a passing truck becomes the youngster flying a plane. The tick-tock of the clock becomes the trotting of a horse as the boy rides out west. One of the best spreads is prompted by the hiss of the heater. It shows the youngster wrapped in a snake's puffy coils, the background ablaze in orange, but the snake's eyes show that it is completely charmed by the boy's flute playing. The expansive illustrations, in dazzling acrylics, amuse and enchant. This tale is a wonderful way to ease bedtime fears and may even result in children creating their own soothing game.

Publisher's Weekly, August, 2005
"Wide-eyed and alert, an unnamed boy narrator describes on rhyming verse the sounds that "float through my house." The first two are pale blue and shadowy black spreads that evoke a mood of eerie quiet. But when the boy reveals his strategy for warding off fear ("I like to pretend when I shut off the light,/The noises turn into adventures at night!), cheerful reds and whites brighten a humorous illustration of a nervous dog sitting atop the boy's head, and the fun begins. A dripping faucet launches a watery fantasy: "I'm a sea captain now/I skim over the waves that slap onto the bow."; a hissing furnace becomes a snake that he'll charm into a trance. Each anxiety-making sound sparks a fantasy in which the empowered child, wearing a range of costumes (and teddy bear in tow), takes control of the situation. Whatley's action-packed illustrations unfold against a background of thick, swirling brushstrokes, exuding an exuberant charm. At long last, the boy's eyelids close, and the "sound of the quiet now puts me to sleep." Readers with nighttime anxieties may well find this story's playful coping strategy a helpful model."

Lifestyle & Art, September 28, 2005
Bangor Daily News
This, the first book from Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner, will leave parents eagerly awaiting the next.

Midwest Book Review, September 2005
Reviewer's Choice
"Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner's Noises At Night... presents a rhyming bedtime book teaching kids that going to sleep can be fun. Bruce Whatley provides the whimsical drawings as a young boy, dog and teddy bear by his side, uses his imagination to turn night noises into exciting new activities. An inspirational nap-time book which also offers some unusual career options for kids to think about."

School Library Journal, September 2005
A bedtime story with a new twist, told in jaunty rhymed couplets. A boy describes the noises he hears at night, but instead of being frightened by them, he dreams up wild adventures for himself and his teddy bear suggested by the various drips, taps, and creaks. The hiss of the heater is a snake that he has charmed, the vroom of a truck is the roar of his plane, and the boom of thunder becomes the drum roll for his circus trapeze act. The last sound is the "SHHH, SHHHHHH" of the quiet that puts him to sleep. Instead of a fearful and anxious protagonist, the authors present a boy who handles scary situations with a clever coping strategy. Whatley's spirited acrylic spreads incorporate delightful bits of humor, such as the nervous pet dog that acts as a comic foil to the brave boy. While this tale does not have the calming verse and quiet reassurance of standard bedtime fare, it is a welcome departure from the formula. Pair it with Laura Simms's The Squeaky Door (Random, 1991) for a storytime featuring bumps in the night. -Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Michele Siuda Jacques reviews books for the Detroit Free Press
"I love "Noises at Night" by Beth Raisner Glass and Susan Lubner. (Abrams Books for Young Readers; $15.95). A little boy settles into bed, imagining all the sounds in the house-from the hsss of the heater to the whoosh of the wind- as the keys to adventures. The creaking of the bed, for example is really a treasure chest opening wide, and he’s an explorer with gold in his hand. It’s a great book for children who fear nighttime noise. Bruce Whatley is the illustrator."