The moonlit night is quiet, and Juliana and Andrés are trying to go to sleep. But a pesky mosquito keeps buzzing, “back and forth, in and out, round about, trying to bite – bzzZZZZZzz bzzzzZZZZZZzzz bzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.” When hiding under the covers doesn’t help, the two children leap out their window and flee into the night, pursued by the determined mosquito. They beg a monkey, a coral snake, and an alligator for help, but each of these creatures is fast asleep. Only the owl is awake; she offers the children a ride back through the night sky to their home, where a hungry frog is waiting on the windowsill to gobble up the mosquito as they all fly through the window. Finally, the night is quiet and the children drift off to sleep.

This is a lovely bedtime book that offers comfort as well as a glimpse of a different part of the world. The leap outside into the night may alarm some parents, but the children have so clearly entered the magical realm of helpful folktale animals that we know they will be kept safe. Uribe (a Chilean writer, editor, and publisher) skillfully uses repetition of words and phrases to increase the soporific effect of her text. With her scratchboard technique, Calderón (a Venezuelan illustrator currently living in the U.S.) emphasizes both the darkness of night and the vivid colour and detail of the jungle world. Young children will enjoy tracking the mosquito through every picture, and will delight in searching for the many tiny creatures hidden there.