The LA riots are a difficult thing to discuss with young children, so it first of all impresses me that Eve Bunting took the tast to hand as it gives that time period from the perspective of a child in the small personal things that he would notice.

It's unexpectedly touching and manages to stay at the homefront despite all the pain involved with these incidents. I thought it very well written: I could tell how panicked and scared the boy was, how he felt about the riots, and the moral without any of them actually being described. The moral was wonderful and brought into the story well. Racism is always a good topic to discuss. In this book, the boy and his mother was black, while their neighbor, Miss Kim, was Asian. The art was stunning. There were the illustrations, but behind the actual typing was a collage background relating to what was going on at the moment. It looks incredible.

Most of all, this is a great way to talk about an important historical time.

While this book attempts to view the LA riots through the eyes of a child, it never actually gives any historical context, thus making the likelihood of the reader's understanding less and less with each passing year. The only tolerance shown in the book is by cats, and while young children identify with animals, this moral is a stretch even to adults. The artwork is lovely, but that only serves to highlight the poor and age-inappropriate story line.

This book contains detailed interesting art work that promotes conversation between parents and chldren. The multicultural aspect was good for my family

Eve Bunting wrote "Smoky Night" as a children's book that teaches some very valuable lessons. She wrote about the experiences of the Los Angeles riots from the point of view of a young boy named Daniel.
Daniel and his mother live in Los Angeles when the riots break out. Daniel watches the evil things people are doing outside his window and learns that they do it because they don't like the people who look or sound different from themselves. When a fire threatens his apartment building, Daniel and his mother must evacuate along with the rest of the tenants and go to a shelter for the night. Daniel is frantically searching for his beloved cat and questioning all his neighbors on her location. Finally, a firefighter brings his cat in along with Mrs. Kim's cat. Daniel thinks it is odd that the two of them were found together because he thought they despised each other. Then he realizes they now get along because they finally got to know each other. His realization brings about a revelation among his neighbors who then become friendly with one another, despite their skin tone or language.
This book opens the floor up for introducing children to the Los Angeles riots and a discussion on racial prejudice. It might be possible to have children do some research on the events and compile a classroom portfolio on that time in history. Discussing racial discrimination could also lead to the introduction of the Civil Rights Movement and the heroes of that time. This book is also great for familiarizing students with the qualities of different ethnic groups and how a diverse population is actually beneficial to the nation as a whole.
"Smoky Night" is a terrific book. It is a wonderful resource for showing children how awful the riots were, and also showing how absurd! Those could have easily been prevented if people would have simply accepted others for who they are! This book certainly raises awareness of the possible devastation that prejudice can cause. It can be used as a tool to minimize the outbreaks in the future by presenting it to children today. Bunting certainly didn't hold back in telling the truth about the riots. She gave details of the goings on in the street and the obvious dangers that were present.
The illustrations in "Smoky Night" are absolutely incredible. David Diaz put paintings on top of photographs of real objects. The colors in his paintings are abstract but they represent the different ethnicities unmistakably. The unique colors really give a bold statement to the book, but I think there is also a quality about them that helps represent unity across the people in the book.

Smoky Night tells the story of a young boy and his mother living in one of the neighborhoods where the Los Angeles riots broke out in the early 1990s. As they watch the rioting from their window, the mother discusses candidly the details of what is happening with her son. When their apartment building catches on fire, they must evacuate and move to a shelter for the night. They are forced to interact with their neighbors who are of different races and they learn the importance of focusing on similarities instead of differences. This book gives a good overview of what life was like for a child at this moment in history. I would recommend it for ages 11 through 14. The complex issues the story brings up about prejudice and racism would be appropriate for children in this age group who are beginning to analyze moral issues. The book should be used in a school setting. It would be appropriate to read the book as part of a discussion on racism or race riots. The paintings in the book were made in acrylics on Arches watercolor paper. The backgrounds, which are collages made up of objects related to the story, were created and photographed by the illustrator. The artwork is unique and fits the text perfectly. For example, when in the story the boy views people stealing cereal from the market, the background is a photograph of actual cereal, and when the boy views someone stealing clothes from the dry cleaners, the background is a photograph of clothing on hangers in plastic bags.

I totaly disagree with the reviewer who said that this shows Black Americans in a negative light to children. First of all, at no time did the author or illustrator name the specific riot or the color of the characters skin! If you look at the illustrations, the people are all the same color- a mixture of blue, purple and green tones. An adult would know the specifics of the LA riots and that this was based on it, not a child. The reviewer is projecting their own issues. The book ends with them all coming together in the shelter and finding common ground.

The author shows courage and respect for our children in tackling a hard issue. It may not be for a 5 year old, but upper elementary kids see what goes on in the world. Sometimes it's easier to open up discussion through a good book than at the dinner table.