A bat afraid of the night and a grandmother afraid of the day

Celestine is a little bat who fears the night, while Rose is a grandmother who finds the day frightening because she feels useless in it. Their meeting becomes the basis of a gentle picture book about loneliness, consolation and the beauty of unfamiliar places.

After being teased for his fear, Celestine wanders outside and flies into Rose’s bedroom. Rose, who now sleeps alone after her family has left the nest, takes him out to show him what the night can hold.

Celestine discovers a world of scents and sounds: “broken sunlight and crushed poppy fragrance,” and the smell of shrews searching for their young. In a garden too dark to enter, he finds fireflies shining like stars. When he looks up, the stars seem to smile down at the earth.

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broken sunlight and crushed poppy fragrance

The night is no longer frightening for Celestine. Along the way, he learns that Rose fears the daytime, when she feels like a “useless person.” Both characters seem unwanted by the world, yet together they exchange comfort for loneliness and beauty for fear.

Written by a Senegalese author who worked in France and Belgium, the book was originally titled Rose and Celestine. The review says its appeal reaches beyond children, encouraging an open mind toward unfamiliar beings, places and times. After reading it, night becomes a place filled with a trembling young bat, a kind grandmother’s stories, scents unavailable by day and the sounds of life.

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useless person