Fight the Night

by Tomie dePaola

In this whimsical classic picture book, Tomie dePaola delivers a sweet depiction of a child’s imagination and all the things that go bump in the night.

To stay up past bedtime, you’ve got to fight the night. Flashlight in hand, a determined Ronald sets out to battle sleep in this refreshed edition of Tomie dePaola’s spirited 1968 picture book.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is interesting. It almost looks like he painted this on top of fabric used for needlepoint. There are all these blocks all over the place that would take forever to draw. Every other page is color and then black and white. Tomie has a nice note in the back talking about publishing practices back then. Colored ink was expensive, so they used color every other page and the colored pages they could only use 2 colors. Now, ink is not expensive. Economics people, it effects even our art.

A boy is playing with his friends and his mom calls him inside to go to bed and he doesn’t want to sleep. He hates having to stop, so he decides to fight the night. He basically stays up all night and then he loses a whole day and has to sleep through it.

Nephew thought it was a funny idea to try and fight the night. He doesn’t like sleeping though and he loves to stay up late. He and his sister have this fight on who gets to stay up the latest and when they break the rules, they have to go to bed early and they love to rub that in. Niece had a sleep over in January and got to stay up to midnight and now Nephew wants to stay up that late. I find that weird. I love going to bed early. Anyway, the nephew liked the idea here and gave this 3 stars.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was any author's career more varied than Tomie dePaola's? His picture books of many genres entertained kids for generations, and no one exceeded his enthusiasm for a fun story. Ronald and his friends, along with his cat Walter, play outside as Fight the Night opens. Ronald wants to have fun all night, but his mother calls him in and insists he go to bed. Annoyed, Ronald vows the Night won't drag him into slumber; he'll stay up until dawn just to prove he can. Is Ronald prepared for the world after dark?

Ducking under his covers in bed, Ronald meets a variety of creatures surprised to see him awake. His cat Walter says he should go to sleep, and an owl has the same advice. Ronald is waiting for his foe, the Night, to give him a tussle that will keep Ronald from drifting off until the first beams of dawn. If Ronald accomplishes his goal, how will the day ahead feel, when he's expected to be awake?

Tomie dePaola's color illustrations for this book are atmospheric, but story is lacking. I'm not sure what it's supposed to represent, or how the ending fits into the message. I don't think Ronald is dreaming, because come morning he's exhausted. The most noteworthy part of the book is the explanation why only half the pages are in color. When Fight the Night came out in 1968, the publisher said half the pictures had to be black-and-white to save on expenses. I'd rate this book one and a half stars; it isn't one of Tomie dePaola's better works.

[Susan Siow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read with lovely old-school illustrations.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

a cat with boundaries
an all nighter with a cooking pot helmet, a flashlight and a quilt cape. what's not to love?

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reissue of this picture book fantasy originally published in 1968.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brought back some memories from my childhood because the art and style are more like what I had available to me as a child. The note inside the back cover was also interesting because Tomie DePaola explains why the book is only half colored and why there were only two colors used. No, I won't tell you why here. You have to read the book! Would recommend.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 2 out of 5]

For this storybook, I don't get the ending. Not at all.

Important though it is to provide picture books to help children (or even adults) to make their peace with going to bed at bedtime, this wasn't the one for me.

Granted the illustrations were grand, and I found it a treat to see the black-and-white illustrations in contrast to the ones in color.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald was having so much fun playing with his friends that he didn't want to stop when it was bedtime. So even though he went to bed, Ronald decided to stay awake and Fight the Night. A gently humorous picture book that both parent and child will identify with and enjoy. I laughed out loud when his cat told him to go home and that "I will not take care of you." A sweet bedtime story.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magical little story of a boy who doesn't want to go to bed so he tries to "fight the night" but it is a slippery thing to catch. The twist ending was pretty funny and a good opportunity for discussion. Parents who can't get their kids to bed will love this.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first saw this on the new book cart, I thought it was a delightful recreation of the style of decades ago. Then I looked at the publication date...1968. Whoops! This is the somewhat surreal story of a kid who vows to "fight the night" and not sleep.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book with my 4yo. The author explains in the back matter that when it was published 1968 books couldn’t have much color and he had to alternate pages of it. The story is fun and surprising, and reminds me of Maurice Sendak’s stories.

[Libby Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald is a young boy determined to fight the night after feeling bitter about bed time.

So many things make this book a wonder to little ones. It will certainly be a bedtime regular around our house for the next few months.

Highly recommended 2-6

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy doesn't want to go to bed and decides he is going to fight the night but finds it isn't as easy as he thought. A fun picture book that would be a great bedtime story. It has great artwork as well.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1968, this 2020 edition shows the growth of dePaola's work, and the changes in picture book publishing.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early dePaola work released for today's fan. Old school art (with a letter from the author explaining why things look the way they do) and an interesting idea of imagination at work.

[Paul Graham Terpstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. A child refuses to allow the night to beat him. He’ll fight the night. But who will win?

[Secret Society of Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the back matter about the artwork.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocatively captures bedtime with a creative (and a bit willful) child. Our family loves dePaola.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loved this book. She is always trying to stay up all night!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork; classic Tomie dePaola; deep life lesson about not wanting to go to bed and staying up all night. Because the “Night” is personified, I found it a little scary.

[Zan Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deciding to fight the night because it always comes at the wrong time, a boy spends an unusual night under the covers at the bottom of his bed.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reprint of DePaola's 1968 picture book, this whimsical story features Ronald refusing to go to sleep by fighting the night with his flashlight.

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea and cool illustrations. It's a little weird and slightly suspenseful. My 22-month-old enjoys it. I'd be interested to see if an older kid gets a little bit scared.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

What child hasn’t fought the night coming for he or she wants to stay up and play. In this case the story opens with the children playing hide and seek as dark arrives and finally in bed our young boy has a dream where he is fighting creatures of the night. Very interesting author’s note as to why not all the pages are in color. This story first published in 1968 when publishers didn’t want to spend huge amount of funds publishing a book in colored ink. dePaloa was only allowed to use two colors and the rest would be black and white.
This night story works extremely well with the limited color palate, blue, magenta, and mixing the two to make purple.