The Night Riders

K-Gr 2–This rather strange, otherworldly wordless picture book features a cartoonish-looking frog and mouse who go exploring on their bike in the middle of the night. The ride takes them through odd-looking forests, down under the ground, and into the ocean. Before heading out, however, they each have a salad–a bowl of bugs for Frog and lettuce and tomato for Mouse. As the ride continues, Frog and Mouse encounter odd-colored animals with oversize eyes, a scaly orange dragon, gremlins, and blue snakes and kiwis. With long fangs and an angry stare, the dragon looks scary but turns out to be quite friendly. He leads the pair underground where they meet up with a pink and orange video-gaming batlike creature. The four new friends explore a deserted town before heading out to the ocean. More fantastic and dangerous creatures await them, along with some friendly mauve-colored porpoises. Tired but happy, the four creatures greet the dawn from a cliff overlooking the ocean. The illustrations are rendered in crayon, watercolor, and ink in a style that is reminiscent of ’80s monster cartoons or movies. Some children will enjoy the detail on each page, and the spread depicting the underwater world is colorful and attractive. However, other children will find the creatures’ strange faces and features too frightening. The dust cover opens out into a poster. A supplemental purchase.–Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA