Smoky Night

Bibliographic information: Bunting, E. (1994) Smoky Night. Illus. David Diaz. New York, NY: Hartcourt, Inc.

Annotation: Riots are taking place in the neighborhood. A boy and his mother are forced out of their appartment when a fire breaks out. They walk down the street to a local church for shelter. The family cat is left behind, until a firefighter shows up. He is holding two cats that are thought to hate one another. The firefighter tells the boy that the cats were holding each other when he found them. The boy and the other neighbors learn a lesson about judging others before knowing them.

Genre: Picture book/fiction

Grade Level: Galda lists the book for children in Grade 3 to young adult. The publisher lists the book for ages 5 and up.

Reader who will like this book: Children who have experienced neighborhood fighting or a fire could relate to this book. Teachers trying to teach about diversity and judging would like this book.

Personal Response: The illustrations are dark and so is the beginning of the book. Books involving fighting can be hard to approach at times but I like how Eve Bunting made the story about the cats. The message is very clear at the end and I really liked that! 3

Classroom questions: Do you have a lot of close neighbors? Are you friends with your neighbors?