Publisher's Weekly Review
A boy's shadow is his constant companionuntil nightfall makes it disappear. Inky watercolors emphasize the changing times of day. Ages 3-6. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An imaginative picture-book rendition of the idea of a shadow as a child's constant companion. A small Oriental boy, a city dweller, considers his shadow a special friend who follows him around town, to the park, to the beach. Like Stevenson's famous shadow companion, his size varies and he goes away at night--but in this case not quite. In Narahashi's clean, beautifully patterned watercolors, he becomes an evanescent dark shape, to be reborn tomorrow as ""yesterday's night left behind for the day."" The spare text is outshone by the glowing illustrations, where a starkly black dog and a Siamese-marked cat appear on most pages and the sinuous blue-violet shadow sometimes dances away on a spooky life of its own. A fine addition to the concept book shelf. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. Though the blue, flowing figure varies his shape and size and never stops moving, he loyally remains close by his boy counterpart, at least until nightfall. But the child knows his friend will return with the sun, for ``he is yesterday's night left behind for the day''; he is the boy's shadow. Besides extolling the physical versatility of shadows, Narahashi surrealistically admires their ability to keep secrets and to come and go with the light, and she mystically portrays the intangible friend as a jester whose broad cape and pointed hat are adorned and defined by the moon and stars of the night sky. The artist's transparent shadows gracefully stretch across her soft-edged watercolor paintings that reflect the golden kiss of sunlight, bask in cool ocean colors, or savor the deep-shaded greens of approaching dusk (see the June 15, 1987, Booklist cover), as this distinctive book celebrates an uncommon companion. A perfect link to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic poem ``My Shadow.'' EM. Shadows Fiction [CIP] 86-27628
