It’s nighttime, but one little tiger isn’t ready to go to sleep. “ 'If I close my eyes,’ he said, 'I can’t see the sky.’ ” Or the tree, or the bird with the blue feathers. And the dark is scary. Like any small child, the little tiger is full of reasons for not going to sleep. But his mother leads him to an understanding of the endless possibilities that his own imagination can create in the dark. She is also full of love and reassurance in this superb bedtime (or anytime) story. “Dark is just the other side of light,” she tells him. “I will be here. So close your eyes, little tiger.” Kate Banks is a writer with a keen understanding of the emotional landscape of small children, and a gift for language. Like her other books illustrated by Georg Hallensleben, here her beautiful words are paired with vivid yet soothing images, creating a perfectly balanced, extraordinarily comforting picture book. Highly Commended, 2003 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 2-4)