Now that Night is Near

Astrid Lindgren
Floris Books 2020
Original publisher: Rabén & Sjögren, Sweden 2019

When the skies turn pink at dusk, it’s time for children to get ready for bed. Or maybe not? Let yourself be transported to a balmy summer’s night and visit cows, lambs and other creatures great and small that aren’t quite ready to go to sleep. Not until night has fallen is everyone ready to close their eyes and drift off. Night Has Come is a classic lullaby that first appeared in Astrid Lindgren’s book, The Children in Noisy Village. Marit Törnqvist was first inspired to illustrate this beautiful lullaby when a school choir sang Night Has Come at Astrid Lindgren’s funeral. “The song really touched me, not just because I was sad about Astrid’s passing, but because she managed to capture the whole world with those few words,” Marit says. “It was as though our childhood memories came together in this book.”The illustrations are inspired by the Swedish landscape, the unique summer light and the feeling of being a tiny element of a vast universe.