Why We Have Day and Night

by Peter F. Neumeyer, Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

Using an orange and a flashlight, a father explains to his children why the sun goes down.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens

36 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1982

Reviews

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly….not as good as I was expecting. The Neumeyer/Gorey combo was spot on in the two “Donald” books, but the story didn’t quite come together in this one. Perhaps it was trying to do too much at once.

Still, it’s worth a read if you are a dedicated fan, and artistically it’s an impressive and curious display of white and black as mediums.

[Tiuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m normally a fan of Edward Gorey and his collaborations with this author. Somehow this one didn’t hit quite right. It can’t seem to decide on the tone…first being imaginative, then teachy, then…well…dark. But not in the way you’re thinking. Like…blackness. A somewhat unexplained and inexplicable ending…but hey…these authors love wacky. I love wacky. This wasn’t wacky…this was…hmmm?

[zunggg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorey's art elevates any book to keeper status, and though the text here is not especially ambitious, it's still a lot of fun.

Great twist at the end where the rational explanation for night and day, illustrated by a bug on a revolving orange, is subverted when the bug eats his way into the permanently dark interior of the orange - avoiding what would have been a safe but dull ending.

Lovely production, too, with the glossy fingerprintable pages and playful font.

[Rick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading Edward Gorey 2023. I don't always appreciate Edward Gorey's contributions to others' work. It's not always a good fit. But Peter Neumeyer's writing hits the nonsense mood that Gorey instills in his drawings, so the pairings work very well. The graphic work of white on a black background, and the occasional spot of orange is really effective. A playful book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As expected, quite odd.

[T Crockett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the range of reasons the kids come up with for why it's dark, so did my 6 yr old audience. But the explanation is such a mish mash of fact and fiction that it's not satisfying.

[Jessie Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually didn’t really care for it. I can’t believe I’m writing that. The drawings were lovely, as always, but the story- MEH.
I think Neumeyer and Gorey could’ve done better.

[Benja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we have Gorey at his most didactic (alphabets notwithstanding), explaining the rotation of the Earth and the nature of day and night to a group of kids freaking out in the darkness. At least that's what it looks like, until the surreal denouement. Make of it what you will.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, with text by Peter F. Neumeyer and illustrations by Edward Gorey, ends in a way that's not very satisfying to me, but still manages to be pretty pleasing overall. The art and design are really great: the book sticks to a color palette of black, white, and orange, and makes a lot of use of black backgrounds and negative space, with Gorey's crosshatched drawings looking lovely whether they're white on black or black on white. The story is really more of a premise/question: it opens with four young siblings stumbling in the dark, wondering "What happened to the light?" The kids' speculations as to what might have happened are the best thing about the book: they wonder things like: "Did the ink spill? Did our eyes burst?" "I know, we're underwater," says one page. "Aren't we born yet?" says the following. (This is a great spread: on the right-hand page there's a Victorian-era couple in a rowboat, dad in straw boater, bowtie, and striped suit; mom in a big flowered hat and a flowing dress, and on the left-hand page are the kids, underwater, standing beneath the black surface, below the wavelets.) I also love the orange spread of an ornately tasseled curtain, with the family cat making an appearance in its folds, and the text of "Did the curtain drop? Is the world finished?" After all this speculation, the oldest child explains how the earth's rotation causes day and night, but his siblings aren't entirely satisfied with that answer and come up with another they prefer.

[Diane]

I just received this book through Librarything Early Reviewers program. It's a cute little book with some silly explanations about why it's dark out at night. It's a good book for children, in my opinion.[return]It's a cute book, and illustrated beautifully. The text might be difficult for kids to read, but reading with parents is probably the best way to get through this book if they are having difficulties reading the font.

[Diana Welsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love nightmare fuel. I don't really get into gore or anything like that, existential horror is more my thing. That's what I was expecting with this book and it delivered. Every kid should read it. Instead of peeing their pants and sleeping with the lights on, they'll just be filled with vague dread for the rest of their lives.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange little story. The illustrations are charming, with minimalist use of color. I enjoyed it, but my preschooler was not riveted by it. However, it was a beautifully bound book that came with a nice bookmark -- really gift quality -- so I donated it to our school library.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean, I'm sure it's supposed to be something about how children are all creative or live in a magical world or whatever, but the world doesn't make any sense and that's how the story ends. Not good.

[Gsmattingly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful text by Peter F. Neumeyer and fantastic illustrations with Edward Gorey.

[Mills College Library]

Picture N493w 2011

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

some real nice sentences.