The dark lives in Laszlo's basement during the daytime. "At night, of course, the dark went out and spread itself against the windows and doors ..." Laszlo doesn't like the dark, but he stands at the top of the steps and says hello to the dark every morning, hoping that if he visits the dark in the basement, the dark won't come visit him in his room. "But one night, it did." It turns out that the dark, which has a voice "as creaky as the roof of the house, and as smooth and cold as the windows," wants Laszlo to come downstairs. And what Laszlo finds in the basement changes everything. Lemony Snicket's playfully serious picture book doesn't make light of many children's very real fear of the dark. Instead, it acknowledges that fear, elegantly traversing the tension that comes with it to arrive at the point of possibility, where the dark can be, well, illuminating, and a lot less scary. Jon Klassen provides terrifically understated illustrations as a backdrop. Winner, 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 4-8)

Lazlo is afraid of the dark. It hides in closets and sometimes sits behind the shower curtain, but mostly it lives in the basement. One night, when Lazlo’s nightlight burns out, the dark comes to visit him in his room. “Lazlo,” the Dark says. “I want to show you something.” And so Lazlo descends the basement stairs to face his fears and discover a few comforting facts about the mysterious presence with whom all children must learn to live.

Beautifully rendered with sympathy and wit, this first collaboration between Snicket and Klassen offers a fresh take on a universal childhood experience.