Review of Lady in the Water: a Bedtime Story
A Picture Book by M. Night Shyamalan, Illustrated by Crash McCreery
© Catherine A. Garretson-Bilnoski
Sep 5, 2008
Lady in the Water: a Bedtime Story by M. Night Shyamalan; illustrated by Crash McCreery (Published by Little, Brown, and Company ISBN 978-0-316-01734-3) is a beautifully written and illustrated tale that young children will want read to them again and again.
The Magic of a Narf
A narf is a magical creature that sometimes lives under people's swimming pools. If a narf is under your pool it is there to give someone you know the inspiration they need to do great things for the world.
Lady in the Water: a Bedtime Story is slightly suspenseful and full of magic. The story is inspirational and talks about how everyone has something to contribute to the world. Although the story is designed to stand alone as a tale for young children, adults will find it complements the movie.
Shymalan's Inspiration for Lady in the Water
M. Night Shyamalan (SHAH-ma-lawn) is most well known for the suspenseful films he writes and directs, such as "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs". "The book is about the myth of your backyard.....That really kind of captured my girls' imaginations," Night says in an interview included with the "Lady in the Water" DVD, Warner Brothers, 2006. Both the Lady in the Water book and movie evolved from a bedtime story he began telling his two girls that he says "grew into this obsessive feature of our household" because his children were so captivated by the tale.
Shyamalan was fascinated by picture books that left something to the imagination while growing up, like Where the Wild Things Are and he believes that the best picture books "have a certain poetry to them. There's a balance between where the words take you in your imagination and then the picture" readies you for the next step in the story, creating a "beautiful balance." Night worked for months with Crash McCreery to achieve the balance and poetry he sought. The results of his efforts are beautiful.
About Illustrator Crash McCreedy
Mark "Crash" McCreedy grew up as a "military brat" constantly moving around the country. In 1988, he earned a BFA in illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Texas. "Crash" is a noted creature designer and has worked on "Jurassic Park", "Small Soldiers" and "Pirates of the Caribbean". McCreedy has also worked with Shyamalan on "The Village."
The illustrations he created for Lady in the Water: a Bedtime Story are similar to the visual style seen in Shyamalan movies, somewhat dark, visually captivating and often containing hidden half-glimpsed images in corners. His sense of color and ability to work with the author helped him to create a mesmerizing visual palette that propels the story forward and draws readers into the hidden world.
