Young Pickles McPhee, a giant blue dinosaur from the country, yearns to experience the big city. She gets the perfect chance to do just that when she stows away in the back of a car and happens upon Martha, a little girl with her own thirst for adventure. The two set out to explore the town’s attractions, made all the more tantalizing under the cloak of the night sky.

The two new friends have the times of their lives. Then Martha gets a little tired, hungry, and irritable – a mood any parent will recognize in a flash – and she convinces Pickles to break into a candy store. The lollipops are delicious, but the two find their joy turning to fright when police arrive and give chase, and they realize that breaking the rules isn’t such a good idea after all. Of course, everything turns out just fine in the end: Martha apologizes, and the two explorers go home to their worried parents.

Montreal native Caroline Merola’s bold illustrations saturate every page with colour and create a rich, expressive backdrop to the story. The narrative flows naturally, with light, playful dialogue and a lively pace that will make reading aloud a pleasure. Pickles McPhee and Martha make loveable, spirited heroines, and Merola obviously understands what makes kids tick. The thrill of being out after dark and eating candy after bedtime is deliciously illicit fun, even if Martha learns a lesson in the process. A Night on the Town is a good-natured, charmingly illustrated book – just the ticket for a vicarious nighttime romp.