Night of the Gargoyles by Eve Bunting (1994) surprised me. The text and illustrations by David Wiesner are a bit frightening for young children. On the very first page is a definition of a gargoyle. "A waterspout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure projecting from the roof or eaves of a building.” The accompanying illustration hints at the frightening faces inside the book. These gargoyles top a museum. When they come alive at night, they peer through the windows and play in a water fountain. A night watchman reports them to a man in a museum office. The man wears a suit and tie, smokes a cigar, and looks skeptically at the night watchman. “‘ Gargoyles, indeed! You’re seeing things,” He says, even as gargoyles look through the window behind him, apparently mocking his ignorance. “ The gargoyles rasp their wings, and put their thumbs behind their crumbling ears to show their scorn.” When the sun rises the gargoyles crawl up walls and fly back to their rooftops. Eve Bunting’s poetic text and David Weiner’s brilliant illustrations create a genuinely spooky story. I will shiver the next time I see a gargoyle.
