Emerging author Edwina Wyatt is an exciting, fresh new voice in Australian children’s picture-books. In the Evening is her first book with Little Hare. It is written in prose, but Edwina’s use of language makes it read like poetry. Edwina uses alliteration, repetition, alternation between long sentences and single words to create emotional effects. She paces her sentences to match the mood of the story as it unfolds, sometimes using long, smooth and flowing sentences, sometimes short and sharp sentences and sometimes a series of single-word sentences. Through her use of language, Edwina is able to instil a sense of urgency when the mood and action is urgent, of loneliness when the mood is lonely, and of high-spirited joy when the action is lively. The 18th century poet Alexander Pope once said, “The sound must seem an echo to the sense”, and Edwina’s writing style embodies this advice.

In the Evening Teacher’s Notes