Beautiful, glowing illustrations alongside a story that meanders a quiet and intriguing path through a neighborhood that is getting ready to settle down for the night. This really does a great job at capturing the exact feelings of getting a glimpse into people's lives via their lit-up windows at dusk, as well as capturing a cozy feeling of community, warmth, and homeiness. Just all around a lovely picture book. ( )

Lovely walk around a neighborhood with an adorable dog. ( )

‘’At the end of the day, before the town goes to sleep,
you can look out of your window and see more little windows lit up like eyes in the dusk
blinking away as the lights turn on inside
a neighbourhood of paper lanterns.’’

Most of my classes finish around 7 in the evening. Night slowly makes her mysterious presence known and through the train windows, you can see the houses coming to life as the orange lights call for you to look, to spy. (No mobile phone for me while commuting, thank you very much!) And I obey. I look for that unusual painting, or lamp, or a vividly-painted wall, or a bookcase full of books. But what attracts my attention is the life that can be contained within the walls of a house. The love, the hopes, the fears, the dreams. I’ve always been fascinated by dusk and the time when the windows lit up. My strolls in the neighbourhood always take place during the blue hour. Even though the houses are the same, the windows are the same, the people are the same, each time feels like an exciting discovery and the warmth in my heart never fades.

In this beautiful book, we take a walk in a serene yet lively neighbourhood, guided by a boy and his dog. During a quiet, autumnal evening, our stroll becomes a journey of understanding what it means to belong to a community. The fairy lights on the porch, children returning home, a dance school, an impromptu party in a basement, shops closing, friends reuniting, couples sharing the burden of the day, hugs, laughter, the perfume of a dinner that has just been prepared, the humming of the TV or the radio, the moon that appears to remind us that the time to rest has come. Tomorrow, we start again. For now, the soft caramel lights are waiting to ease our weary minds…

This lovely gem, created by Julia Denos and E.B.Goodale will make you grab your shows and take a soothing walk. And I promise you, you will see everything in a new light.

‘’Then you arrive home again,
and you look at your window from the outside.
Someone you love is waving at you,
and you can’t wait to go in.
So you do.’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )

A young boy walks through his diverse neighborhood in the almost-night observing windows lighting up. A strong sense of love, home, and belonging to a neighborhood is conveyed through the book’s text and illustrations.

diverse picture book (preschool ages 3-5 , community)
* {rominently features diverse characters: Yes, ethnically as well as socioeconomically. The main character's family can also be interpreted as a single mother household.
* Would work for preschool storytime. It's not the most engaging, dynamic content, but the illustrations are beautiful (often inviting a closer look for one-on-one reading) and the text is brief enough. I wouldn't try this on a random group of preschoolers if I were looking for a foolproof read-aloud, but I might read this to a group of Kindergarteners who are accustomed to sitting through circle time, or as a one-on-one bedtime story.
* Works well with the proposed theme (community). Yes. ( )