Night Visitors

by Ed Young

When his father threatens to flood out the ants that have invaded his storehouse, young Ho Kuan protests, and one night, he follows the ants to their secret kingdom, in a story based on an ancient Chinese folktale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

1 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Ed Young is the illustrator of more than eighty books for children, seventeen of which he has also written. Among his books is the Caldecott Medal winner Lon Po Po, which he both wrote and illustrated. He says that his work is inspired by the philosophy of Chinese painting. He lives in Westchester County, New York.

Reviews

[Robin Obara]

Teaches the sanctity of all sentient life. Except for the daughter who is given away in marriage as a gift…

[Sunah Chung]

This picture book tells the Chinese folktale about respecting living creatures. The illustrations represent the dreamy moods of the story using an ink-wash painting style. But all the illustrations adopt the same painting style, which makes it not distinguishable between the character's reality and dream until the text says, "Ho Kuan woke to find himself at his own desk with is books […]" with an illustration of a candle letting off smoke. But the other illustrations and even the book's title tell that Ho Kuan dreams of the war of ants.

But I am still unsure how to interpret this book. It can be interpreted as an appreciation for Ho Kuan's kind acts toward small living creatures. The ants may show their life through the form of a dream and lead Ho Kuan to find money to seal the storehouse instead of killing the ants. But I also wonder why the dream needs to be involved with the life of ants. Does it mean that their lives are similar to humans, such as getting married, fighting for family, etc.? But Ho Kuan is already aware of the value of living creatures. Does the dream need Ho Kuan's father? I don’t know.. hmmm…

[Samantha]

When his father wants to flood the farmer's storehouse to solve the problem of ants eating the grains, Ho Kuan pleads with him to allow him to seal the storehouse, thereby preserving life, not destroying it.

Charcoal and watercolor illustrations.

I like the message that life in all forms and sizes should be valued. Overall, a nice teaching tale.

[Helen Pugsley]

I kind of wish I didn't give out five star reviews so liberally. This deserves six stars! I love it! Omigob. I might read it again just for the illustrations! It was beautiful! I loved that it teaches children to respect life. I mean, Ho was always on that path. But still. He just got back up. I almost cried when his wife...