Two New Gems: Around the Clock and Stormy Night

Around the Clock, written and illustrated by Roz Chast.  I recently read Chast's brilliant and painfully honest graphic novel memoir hybrid Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?  and marveled at her ability to capture comical shock.  Her cartoon figures would suddenly look alarmed at something being done or said, and Chast does this thing with their eyes, making them all buggy with little squiggly lines surrounding them, that causes you to laugh and almost jump at the same time.  In this absolutely hilarious and neurotic (and less sinister) tribute to Edward Gorey's A Is for Alice, Chast travels through the hours of the day while introducing us to several bizarre people doing unusual or not so unusual things.  We start at 6am, and we see that from 6 to 7, "Pete is up, drinking from his favorite cup" and pictured is an illustration begging to be explored by young eyes of a rather bug-eyed caffeinated man? boy? surrounded by an extreme mess (please note that the blender is still whirring and overflowing).  As we go through the day, we meet Deb who from 9 to 10 has forgotten "Are unicorns real, or are they notten?" (love the unicorn saying hi to Deb in a cartoon bubble) and, my favorites, Ann throwing a tantrum in the grocery store from 3 to 4 (look at those Chastian onlookers with their shocked eyes) and Dave from 11 to 12 when no one can see him, planning a sock museum.  Each cartoon is a madcap delight.  I have gone through the book several times now and the jokes I laughed at the first time still seem fresh, and I am discovering new laughs in the background.

Stormy Night, written and illustrated by Salina Yoon.  A far more earnest (without being cloying) treatment of nocturnal worries and rituals, this sweet, sweet, sweet gem captures the highs and lows of a little bear trying to weather out a scary night-time storm.  Yoon's colorful illustrations with their bold outlines express so many varying emotions as the little bear sings to his toy bunny Floppy to comfort the little guy as the storm rages on outside.  However, big booms cause the bear to hop under the bed.  In a nice attempt to calm their child, the bear parents come in and pretend to be afraid the storm.  In a fun example of reverse psychology, they have the preschooler sooth THEIR nerves with a kiss for Mama and an ear tickle for Papa.  Reading a book together also helps in calming the nerves.  A huge BOOM! (a dramatic spread, startlingly presented by Yoon) startles the cub once more, but there's nothing that mama's kiss and papa's ear tickle cannot cure.  This is a great story time book with crisp, clear illustrations that will play well to a big crowd, lots of sound effects, a soothing lullaby, and a very happy resolution.