Richard Thompson and Martin Springett continue to explore mythology in The Night Walker, their latest collaboration. The story opens with a native boy adventuring starts homeward, strange noises follow him but stop abruptly whenever he does. Unease gives way to fright as the boy imagines being stalked by an animal or the dreaded Night Walker – a spirit creature who traps children wandering after dark.

Springett’s illustrations are striking and imaginatively rendered. His coloured pencil drawings, done over airbrushed backgrounds on watercolour paper, reflect the boy’s various mental states, but are never overly scary. Static compositions and calming hues mark the daytime nature scenes and those where the boy is reunited with his understanding mother. The tones become shadowy and the perspectives dramatic as he grows apprehensive. At the height of his self-induced terror, the animals appear huge, distorted, and indistinct. The Night Walker, the boy’s greatest fear, looms above them all in vivid detail.

Although Thompson is a versatile author of numerous children’s books, his writing here is without the originality and richness of Who or the lyricism and suspense of The Follower (previous collaborations by him and Springett). The impact of the repetition and rhythm is lessened by excessive words. The mystery of the strange noises seems obvious, even for children. In the end, the boy learns reasonable boundaries without losing his free-spiritedness in this restrained cautionary tale.