You Are Light

by Aaron Becker, Aaron Becker (Illustrator)

Overview

With a wondrously simple die-cut book, the Caldecott Honor–winning creator of the Journey trilogy brings his talents further into the light.

This is the light that brings the day.

Open this beautiful book to find a graphic yellow sun surrounded by a halo of bright die-cut circles. Now hold the page up to the light and enjoy the transformation as the colors in those circles glow. In an elegant, sparely narrated ode to the phenomenon of light, Aaron Becker follows as light reflects off the earth to warm our faces, draws up the sea to make the rain, feeds all the things that grow, and helps to create all the brilliant wonders of the world, including ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536201154
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Pages:	16
Sales rank:	145,040
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aaron Becker is the Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator of the Journey trilogy and of A Stone for Sascha. He lives in western Massachusetts with his family.

Editorial Reviews

01/21/2019

Becker (the Journey trilogy) celebrates life-sustaining light in this unusual board book. Blending science and poetry with just a few words, the text introduces the ways that light shapes our world: “It sips the sea/ to make the rain”; “It lights the moon/ to kiss the night.” Corresponding symbols (a splashing ocean wave, a bright moon) lie at the center of each elegantly spare spread, surrounded by a ring of die-cut circles that gradually fill in with discs of transparent color as the pages turn. Like Hervé Tullet’s Press Here, this title will invite interactive read-alouds—its sturdy cut-outs are perfectly sized for small hands. Forming a luminous, rainbow-hued sphere when the covers close, the circular pattern of colors resembles stained glass window panels in a house of worship, as well as a secular view through a kaleidoscope, reinforcing the mood of quiet awe and universal connection in the book’s final lines: “This light is you. And you are the light.” Becker’s artful board book offers opportunities for tactile play and deeper contemplation. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Gorgeous.
—Susan Verde, New York Times bestselling author of I Am Human

Explore the ways sunlight enriches the Earth, enhanced by colorful, dynamically shifting die-cut circles. Don't be fooled by the board-book format; there's plenty for readers of all ages in this interactive art book, written as a poetic ode to the power and importance of light...Becker uses the glowing swatches of color powerfully. Variegated shades of blue circle a wave's crest; a decorative trio of gold, lime, and violet halos grain; a stark penultimate page of white moon against black background has no color at all. This book is demanding of its readers, but those who take the time are in for a treat. A well-crafted art book with emotional resonance.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The story lends itself to discussion with children and does an outstanding job of introducing complex ideas in a lighthearted, lyrical way...The text and illustrations work well together to create a sturdy, tactile experience will appeal to young children. This is an age-appropriate concept book. Highly recommended as a first purchase for public libraries and preschools.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Forming a luminous, rainbow-hued sphere when the covers close, the circular pattern of colors resembles stained glass window panels in a house of worship, as well as a secular view through a kaleidoscope, reinforcing the mood of quiet awe and universal connection in the book’s final lines: “This light is you. And you are the light.” Becker’s artful board book offers opportunities for tactile play and deeper contemplation.
—Publishers Weekly

Becker (Journey, rev. 9/13, and sequels) presents a striking board book about colors, the sun, and, more broadly, the environment and our interconnected ecology...An eye-pleasing novelty board book for young children with additional depth that recommends it for slightly older budding environmentalists.
—The Horn Book

You simply have to experience this one for yourself, especially for the final spread. Simply exquisite.
—Kirkus Reviews (blog)

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2019

PreS–This creative board book is an early introduction to STEM for young audiences. The cover is bright and colorful and designed to grab their attention. When the book is held up into the light, children can look through the 12 translucent circles of greens, blues, purples, oranges, and yellows. The story seems simple but has great depth. The title starts, "This is light that brings the dawn." The text is clever, too: "It sips the sea to make the rain." This, of course, refers to evaporation. The story lends itself to discussion with children and does an outstanding job of introducing complex ideas in a lighthearted, lyrical way. Although the word photosynthesis is never used, the concept of light feeding leaves is introduced. The text and illustrations work well together to create a sturdy, tactile experience will appeal to young children. VERDICT This is an age-appropriate concept book. Highly recommended as a first purchase for public libraries and preschools.—Robin Sofge, Prince William Public Library System, VA

School Library Journal

★ 2019-01-28

Explore the ways sunlight enriches the Earth, enhanced by colorful, dynamically shifting die-cut circles.

Don't be fooled by the board-book format; there's plenty for readers of all ages in this interactive art book, written as a poetic ode to the power and importance of light. Evocatively stylized symbols—a tongue of flame, a sheaf of wheat—fill the middles of the rectos, surrounded by 12 die-cut holes that hold translucent jewel-toned inserts. Younger readers will marvel while holding the book up to the light as each page turn changes the way the colored layers interact and mix, an exploration that the durable plastic circles allow. Older, more sophisticated readers will appreciate the lyrical ponderings on the sun's effects on the water cycle and growing seasons and will find meaning in the book's culmination tying the sun back to readers; text opposite a human silhouette surrounded by a radiating rainbow mandala informs them that "This light is you. And you are light." Becker uses the glowing swatches of color powerfully. Variegated shades of blue circle a wave's crest; a decorative trio of gold, lime, and violet halos grain; a stark penultimate page of white moon against black background has no color at all. This book is demanding of its readers, but those who take the time are in for a treat.

A well-crafted art book with emotional resonance. (Board book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews