Twilight Chant

PreS-Gr 1—In the glow of twilight, family members pack up their beach things and walk home. The lyrical text introduces readers to various animals (including egrets, deer, rabbits, fox, fireflies, skunks, and june bugs) out and about at twilight as the illustrations depict them and tangentially follows the humans' progress as they wend their way home. Betton's beautifully realistic watercolor spreads fully capture the colors of twilight and the wonderful details of the animals while never quite losing sight of the family walking home in the background. Thompson's lyrical text cleverly mentions a new animal at the end of each spread then in the following two pages expounds on it. This stylistic repetition is very effective and also opens the door for an effortlessly interactive storytime. An easy-to-understand "About Twilight" page is appended, in which Thompson explains what twilight is; the differences between diurnal, nocturnal, and crepuscular animals; and lists the creatures in the book.