Beatrice Likes the Dark – Perfect Picture Book Friday

There are picture books you read and enjoy, but they don’t stick with you. And then there are picture books you read and become obsessed with. I tend to feature many of the latter on my blog. Here’s a case in point.

I have had this book checked out from my library for—I don’t know how long. So long that I’ve decided to buy it.

It’s a parallel story of two very different sisters who can’t figure each other out. The reader is introduced to Beatrice first, the unusual one. For Beatrice likes the dark. She likes the color black. She likes black underwear with little white bats. And while the narrative says nothing about her feeding the ravens we see flitting in the dark outside her window, we understand that they, too, are all part of her persona…along with the night, spiders, graveyards, and twisted, mysterious, enchanted forests.

I’ve seen a few reviews that are critical of the author’s artistic choices for Beatrice. One reviewer wants her to just be portrayed as an introvert, not “weird” or “strange” because she loves spiders and potions, and what one reviewer referred to as death. I would disagree that Beatrice’s love of graveyards is based on a love of death. I think she loves them because they are peaceful places, and perhaps she picnics there to be close to someone she loves who has passed away. I also think her love of spiders and bats is refreshing and unexpected. They do such quiet good in this world. We would be overrun by insects if it weren’t for them. And as far as potions are concerned, children love that element of magic!

I also like the author’s unusual choices because Beatrice is fascinating, like a character in a fairy tale. And I love that she’s the one who ends up building the first bridge between these two very different sisters.

But I digress. We not only learn what Beatrice likes, but also what she understands. An important word choice—”understands.” Most of what Beatrice doesn’t understand involves bright light and noise. But also, her sister, Roo, who happens to love the very things Beatrice doesn’t understand—bright colors, waking up early, and shouting from her tree house.

As it turns out, Roo doesn’t understand her sister, Beatrice, either.

But they share a bedroom and a wide bed where they glare at each other across the expanse between them…

“…until each falls asleep, soft eyelids, soft breaths, tight frowns.”

As the sisters dream, their dreams portend the ending without spelling it out. Each longs to share their life and loves with the other.

When Beatrice wakes in the night and heads off to her attic hideaway, Roo begs her not to leave her alone in the dark bedroom. And this, dear reader, is the point where their two worlds begin to intermingle. I will leave off with my description here, because the path to the end is so lovely and loving that I don’t want to spoil it for you all.

Khoa Le’s detailed, delicate illustrations in a contrast of light and dark are mystical and magical and mesmerizing, and often add information not included in the text. The title page that serves as a header for this post is brilliant, in the way Beatrice’s shadow transforms into a spider, bat, and raven. I could study these illustrations forever. And so I will, because this book is headed to my home collection.

Activities:

Make a list of the different personality traits of each girl. Which traits do you share? Which ones are hard for you to understand? Why is it important to be able to accept personality differences, even if you don’t understand them? How do Beatrice and Roo overcome their differences?

Do you have light and dark aspects of your personality? Make a drawing, painting, or collage that represents those different aspects.

Pair this book with an Elephant and Piggie book by Mo Willems. What are Elephant’s personality traits? What are Piggie’s? How are they different? How do they help each other in different ways? Are there other books you can think of where two characters are very different, and yet they’re friends?

Title: Beatrice Likes the Dark

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke

Illustrator: Khoa Le

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers, 2022

Ages: pre-K through Elementary school

Themes: siblings, appreciating differences

For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.