Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night...

Little Lit #3

by Lemony Snicket, William Joyce, Neil Gaiman

We planted a seed in some of the most fertile minds of the cartoonists, novelists, and children's book artists. We asked them to start a story with the It Was a Dark and Silly Night... We wanted to know...What happened next??? What grew from the seed is this generous, chock-full, over-the-top jungle of silly comic book stories that show how rich the human imagination is. Lemony Snicket and Richard Sala imagined a dark and silly night where a young girl chases after a Yeti. Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson imagined a dark and silly night where kids throw the greatest party they ever had...in a graveyard! William Joyce tells us about kids whose Silly Ray saves the world from warrior florists. This collection of wild and silly imaginings will tickle your funny bone for years to come. Lemony Snicket • Neil Gaiman • William Joyce • Kaz • Art Spiegelman • J. Otto Seibold • Vivian Walsh • Gahan Wilson • Barbara McClintock • Richard Sala • Martin Handford • R. Sikoryak • Patrick McDonnell • Tony Millionaire • Carlos Nine • Basil Wolverton • Joost Swarte

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education and a perplexing youth and now endures a despondent adulthood. His previous published works include the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Composer is Dead, and 13 Words. His new series is All The Wrong Questions.

For A Series of Unfortunate Events:
www.lemonysnicket.com

For All The Wrong Questions:
www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com

Reviews

[Uglyoldwitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in the clearance section of our local Half-Price Books. Imagine my excitement! It was all I could do to finish shopping - I wanted to run out to the car and read it immediately.

Neil Gaiman is the BEST - his story was hysterical. I also really enjoyed the Lemony Snickett/Richard Sala story about the Yeti.

[Bubba · Rating 1 out of 5]

More like a dark and acid-dropping night. At least I hope that there was acid involved. If not, then there is no excuse for the books' unfunny weirdness.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

So trippy. Really great stuff. Really want to explore some of these artists more and find more Basil Wolverton stuff.

[Sara Hannon]

1. Graphic Novel

2. A collection of comics based on the line "it was a dark and silly night" that vary from yetis to penguins to the moon being afraid of the dark.

3. I was surprised to see this book in the children's section of the library. Some of the stories are appropriate and the language is on the level of children, but some of it is a bit more adult. Most of the stories would be fantastic read-aloud books. That is the best part of this book. All these stories are really great to be read aloud. My favorite is the comic about the yeti. It is a very funny story about a girl that thinks she is seeing a "somewhat intelligent, largely laconic yeti". Words like that is why a child reading this would not be great but someone reading this story to a child would be fantastic. WIth an adult reading it they can skip some of the comics that may not be appropriate (like the party in the graveyard) and explain words like laconic.

4. This book is excellent for reading aloud. It would be very nice to put under a document camera to give a good shot of the drawings. The illustrations are very nice and most of the stories are appropriate and funny.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting collection of comic strip style stories from a variety of authors ranging from Lemony Snicket to William Joyce. It's hard to rate this book because some of the stories are really good while others are just confusing.

Each story starts with "It was a dark and silly night..." and goes off into realms hindered only by the author's imagination. Stories range in plot from a little girl going out into a dark, snowy night in search of Yeti (Lemony Snicket) to a find-the-differences-between-two-pictures by Barbara McClintock (of Adele and Simon fame).

The illustrations vary with author. Some are fantastic (William Joyce - as always!) and others are just plain weird (Carlos Nine and Kaz).

[Emelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just warning you, this one is not as good as the rest. In my opinion, at least..

[Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very dark. Extremely silly.

[nic p · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly I only read this because I saw there was a lemony snicket and a Neil gaiman story and while those did not disappoint, only few others were interesting or entertaining.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was super excited when I came across this book, as I love Lemony Snicket's sense of humor, and I was excited to see what the other authors had done as well. It sounded like such a fun concept for short stories.

However, I didn't really care for most of the stories, and I didn't love any of them. Snicket's was my favorite of the lot, both because of his fun with words, and the story itself had a funny twist. However, I do wish a slightly different font was chosen, as it's not the easiest font to read.

As for the rest of the stories, just eh. I do think part of it is the art style. I thought most of the art in the book was ugly, which makes it harder to enjoy the stories being told. The stories were certainly whimsical, but I just couldn't enjoy it.

[Pip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big fan of both Lemony Snicket and Art Spiegelman so this book grabbed my attention. It is a collection of stories on the theme of "one dark and silly night". I thought my 10 year old niece would enjoy it. I am not sure what age group this is aimed at. On the back cover it says "children's book for all ages". It is weird as much as silly and, although some parts appeal to a child (there are games and puzzles) I enjoyed the cartoons as a homage to comics of the past and by recognising styles from eg. Spongebob Squarepants. My favourite story was that of Lemony Snicket, which was the first in this collection. The illustrations I liked best were those of William Joyce.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: It was a dark and silly night
Award: None
Appropriate grade levels: 2nd grade - 4th grade
Summary: This book has about 30 different comics within it.
Review: I would give this comic a 5, I found the comic to be very funny, when I was younger I loved to read comic. I found that comics made reading enjoyable.
Possible in class uses: A possible use in class is to have students make their own comics, another would be to learn about different aspects of making a comic, where the characters have thought bubbles and within a page it is divided into sections.

[Tori Kalberer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awards the book has received (if any): n/a
Appropriate grade level(s): 2nd-7th
Original summary: This graphic novel contains mini stories starting with the phrase "It was a dark and silly night..." complete with illustrations and silly stories!
Original review: Some of the small stories are more complicated than others, but I can imagine this book being appealing to young students for its title and dark look.
1-2 possible in-class uses:
1) Learning how to create their own graphic novels.
2) Can be used for read alouds.

[Hermioneginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una raccolta di fumetti che hanno in comune il titolo, "Era una notte buia e strampalata". La storia migliore è quella di Lemony Snicket sullo Yeti. Altri fumetti credo abbiano personaggi fissi, ma non conoscendoli non si capisce bene cosa facciano.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only one I thought was even worth reading, was the very first story by Lemony Snicket and Richard Sala.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my favorite story was Carlos Nine's.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think trying to make a theme volume hurt the overall quality or hampered some of these talents from making the best book they could have. Fun, but not as fun as the preceding two books.

[Steve Gutin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved and reread many times with my daughter. She loved it, too, and she was five.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphic novels by the likes of Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman and more. All starting with "it was a dark and silly night". What a bunch of creative imaginations.

[Tiffanie Pirault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed the whole time

[rubama⁷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first comic was really good my jaw dropped!

[BLASUEM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is very interesting

[Brenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The time-worn literary cliché “It was a dark and stormy night...” has been re-adapted for this compilation of kiddie comix. And while the theme of a “dark and silly night” sounds clever and cute... well, it's cute, at least.

Comix legend Art Spiegelman and his wife Francoise Mouly compiled and edited this oversized “Little Lit” book of sixteen famed artists/writers of varying degrees. Most have had some experience in children's literature (Where's Waldo? creator Martin Handford, for instance, illustrated the endpapers of the book, and fictional children's author Lemony Snicket “wrote” one of the entries within), while others merely toned down their work so as to make it more palatable for a youthful audience (such as Gahan Wilson, who is actually credited inside as being a cartoonist for Playboy magazine). Spiegelman himself designed and illustrated the book covers – but none of the creative content within is his.

But yes- the book is indeed cute. It's the kind of book that would get a child's immediate attention, and draw him or her into the reading thereof. That is, perhaps, the greatest strength of the title. As for re-readability for an adult (or even for a reading aloud with a child), the book shows its weaknesses. It comes across as a comics-only version of Highlights for Children, complete with a What's-the-Difference-type game, a Where's Waldo?-esque character hunt (two of them, counting both sets of endpapers), and even Maakies creator Tony Millionaire gets in on the fun with a one-page story comprised of six mixed-up panels for the kids to rearrange in a logical sequence.

Amazingly, Spiegelman discovered a classic piece by the late Basil Wolverton which is entirely appropriate for a juvenile audience – that is to say, a fun romp which is not likely to induce nightmares in the particularly impressionable. This inclusion serves to differentiate the book from so many others aimed at children, making it something of an introduction into the vibrant world of classic Underground Comix. So the book does have something to recommend it above and beyond typical fare for the young.

So, it is cute. And yes, it is moderately silly - it elicits a giggle or two.

This, however, is not a monthly magazine, with a reasonable cover price for its audience (i.e. Young children and parents thereof). This slender tome is priced at about twenty bucks. The question remains: Is “cute” worth the investment?

[Ruhama · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 16 contributors to this book, some providing artwork, some stories and some puzzles. Each were given the theme “a dark and silly night” and then they used their imaginations to come up with some crazy tales. There are familiar authors and illustrators and unfamiliar, and even a classic included from 1952. I have not read the first two Little Lit books, and was surprised at all the negative comments on amazon. I enjoyed the stories (though some are a little weird, as opposed to silly), and most of the artwork was fabulous. Processing this book could be tricky—the author of Where’s Waldo did the endpapers, and not one bit of them can be covered up by a pocket or barcode! Overall a lot of fun and silliness.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3. Little Lit “It was a Dark and Silly Night” comprised by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly
No Awards
Grade Level: 3+
It was a Dark and Silly Night is a graphic novel filled with different silly stories for kids to read. The stories are funny and the pictures in the graphic novel are funny too.
It was a Dark and Silly Night is definitely geared more towards a younger audience than compared to the other Little Lit books. The graphic novel is a bigger book, which makes it all the more fun to read.
This book could be used in classrooms to rego over print concepts. Graphic novels look different than regular chapter books and students may get confused on the order with all the different pictures and print.

[Josephus FromPlacitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art and artists again, but the concept (starting every story with the "It was a dark and silly night" line) was a little off and led to some not-quite-fully realized pieces. Some of the pieces didn't have the full, autonomous integrity as the Fairy Tales edition of this series or the Strange Stories for Strange Kids edition. Those books had an overarching theme that allowed for more flexibility in storytelling, where I felt like this conceit hindered a few of the stories as the artists tried to shoehorn in the line (which I guess comes from an old Basil Wolverton short cartoon included in this book) and then conform to their interpretations of the line's thematic tone.

[Sasha Boersma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is for the slightly older age range, and requires the reader to have a warped sense of humour. So of course I liked it! Picked it up from the library because of Gaiman's story, but since it's edited by Spiegelman I saw no harm in reading all the stories. Very cute and fun. Sometimes we take the role of kidslit too seriously, and this collection doesn't. Age group, I'd say 7-10. Might be good one for the "reluctant reader" set due to the images and humour.

[Diana Bogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book I enjoyed reading with my kids. It was our first "Little Lit" book and I hope that we'll find a few others to enjoy together. For us, the attraction of the book was the variety of artists each telling a story with the same opening. Being short, we could quickly read a few each night. I actually looked forward to making time to sit down and look at the art and see what the next version of the story would be and, naturally, some we liked better than others.

[Lisa Macklem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some lovely art from a bevvy of well-known artists and writers. The stories are indeed silly. I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the Little Lit Fairy Tales. I did really like the spot the difference between the two pictures game - which is likely telling. A. I really wanted to be reading one of those and B. that was the most interesting "story." Fully willing to admit that maybe I just wasn't in a silly enough mindset to really enjoy it....

[Kelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a pretty fun kids book. Lots of interesting pictures from lots of different artists and writers. Definitely worth checking out from the library if you like kids books or indie comic books or art.

[Finny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mommy says: The kids loved this book of comic strips by famous authors (Lemony Snicket for example), primarily because they are comic strips, but it made for tedious reading aloud by the parent. Too many adults trying too too hard to be silly for little kids, when really? They were not.