Anne Laurel Carter is probably best known for the controversy surrounding her 2008 YA title, The Shepherd’s Granddaughter. After winning the Candian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award and being included in the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading program, it was targeted by Jewish advocacy groups as being anti-Israel. With her latest release, Carter returns to less contentious territory, appealing to a younger audience with a delightful storybook.

In Night Boy, Carter uses bouncy rhyming verse to tell the tale of a nightly game of hide-and-seek between Princess Day and her little brother, Prince Night. In the story, Night rockets through the cosmos in search of Day. But before long, the little prince becomes sidetracked with the dazzling sights of the universe and forgets all about his quest, just as he always does.

Ninon Pelletier’s illustrations feature rich colours, exaggerated, cartoon-like characters, and sweet whimsical details: stars spill from glasses to create the Milky Way; a sticky note shows phases of the moon; and the points of Day’s crown are tipped with tiny planets.

The book is a great choice for bedtime-averse kids and for aspiring stargazers. Many galactic favourites make an appearance, including the Orion and Pegasus constellations, the aurora borealis, and the North Star, providing a jumping-off point for discussions of basic astronomy.

The story ends gently, as the best bedtime stories do, with the promise of another game tomorrow.