The story of Joakim (Jake), a lonely boy whose father suffers from depression and disappears into the night. Haunted by visions of monstrous night birds lurking in his closet, Joakim must confront both real and imagined fears as his family struggles with his father's illness. Winner of the Norwegian Literature Prize and the German Children's Literature Prize, this is the landmark work of 1990 Hans Christian Andersen Award laureate Tormod Haugen.

At night, father disappears. And in the closet lurk the night birds — creatures with red eyes and sharp beaks that only Joakim can see.

Lisbeth Zwerger is an Austrian illustrator born in Vienna in 1954. She made her debut in 1977 illustrating E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Strange Child," and went on to create picture book illustrations for classics including Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Dickens. Known for her distinctive style of dreamlike watercolors and delicate linework, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1990 in recognition of her lifetime contribution to children's literature. Her most notable work is Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1988), along with E.T.A. Hoffmann's "Nutcracker and Mouseking" (1979) and Brothers Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel" (1979).

An Austrian picture book illustrator whose dreamlike watercolors and delicate linework bring classic fairy tales to life with a distinctive aesthetic sensibility that captivates readers around the world.