Picture Book Review: The Dark Was Done by Lauren Stringer (9/27/22)

In The Dark was Done, everyone fears the dark and wishes for it to disappear. When it does, though, they realize how much they miss it, and a boy, a poet, a robber, and a gardener go out to find it and bring it back. 

The illustrations in this book provide a strong contrast between the bright yellow of day and the cool blue of night. The figures in the pictures have an ethereal, whimsical quality that contributes to the dreamlike atmosphere of the story. The tale itself reminds me of How the Sun was Brought Back to the Sky, but in reverse. 

Reading this from a Christian perspective, something feels off to me. The presence of the robber, and his desire for the darkness to return so that he can conduct his nefarious business in the shadows, feels like an attempt to normalize evil, or to suggest that we need to embrace evil if we want to have good things. Because darkness is so often a metaphor for sinister things in books, a story where darkness is upheld as a hero feels uncomfortable and problematic. I don't see a problem with teaching kids not to fear the literal dark, or to accept metaphorical darkness as a part of our fallen world, but I don't like the relativistic idea that everything the night sky provides is good just because some of it is. This is a book I will donate without reading it to my kids.

I received a copy of The Dark Was Done from Beach Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.