Benita and the Night Creatures

July 31, 2023
Creatures of Peruvian folklore cannot tear Benita, a pigtailed, red-bespectacled child portrayed with light brown skin, away from a book in Llanos’s humorous volume from a Peruvian creative team. After Benita finds a book “to devour,” ghost-resembling Cuco bounces in Benita’s window and yells “Boo!”—to which Benita, never looking up, responds “Bless you” and hands over a tissue. After gathering reinforcements, Cuco offers another shout, while air-freezing pal Tunche lets out a hearty “FEEEENNN!” Annoyed by the racket, Benita demands quiet. When wailing purple spirit Supay joins the group the following night, Benita explodes: “DON’T YOU SEE I’M READING A BOOK?” Following an emergency meeting, the creatures decide they want in, and Benita obliges, kicking off a most unusual storytime. Using mostly black backgrounds and a zingy palette, illustrating duo Cocoretto put their own bold folk art stamp on creatures of lore, while play-by-play text from Llanos establishes the child’s single-minded pursuit of reading and the beasts’ comic surprise. Contextualizing back matter and creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–9.

September 1, 2023
Benita is wrapped up in her reading and not bothered by the night creatures who try to frighten her at bedtime. Annoyed at the growing crowd of would-be scarers, she yells, "DON'T YOU SEE I'M READING A BOOK?" Intrigued, the monsters ask Benita to read to them. Now all engrossed, they yell "SHHHH!" to latecomer Yanapuma, who instead of scaring everyone joins the storytime. Boldly colored pencil and digital illustrations pop against mostly black backdrops. Young book lovers will relate to Benita's devotion to reading and be amused by the friendly night creatures, who are all based on Peruvian legends. Concurrently published in Spanish as Benita y las criaturas nocturnas. Monica de los Reyes

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
Benita is wrapped up in her reading and not bothered by the night creatures who try to frighten her at bedtime. Annoyed at the growing crowd of would-be scarers, she yells, "DON'T YOU SEE I'M READING A BOOK?" Intrigued, the monsters ask Benita to read to them. Now all engrossed, they yell "SHHHH!" to latecomer Yanapuma, who instead of scaring everyone, joins the storytime. Boldly colored pencil and digital illustrations pop against mostly black backdrops. Young book lovers will relate to Benita's devotion to reading and be amused by the friendly night creatures, who are all based on Peruvian legends. Concurrently published in Spanish as Benita y las criaturas nocturnas.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)