Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World

by Sue Fliess, Khoa Le (Illustrator)

Overview

The soft glow of a candle, the blink of a firefly, a burst of fireworks—light is everywhere in our world!

Rhyming text and luminous illustrations follow four children as they experience many different forms of light.

"[M]ultiple STEAM applications, from poetry and creative writing to introductions to energy and light to how the sun affects human life, and doubles as a great read-aloud or a starry bedtime story."—starred, Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541595514
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sue Fliess is the author of over forty children's books including Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World, Goldilocks and the Three Engineers, Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket, Beatrice Bly's Rules for Spies series and more. Her background is in copywriting, public relations, art, and marketing, and her essays have appeared in O the Oprah Magazine, Huffington Post, Writer's Digest, and more. Her picture books have received honors from the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators, have been used in school curricula, museum educational programs, and have even been translated into multiple languages. Sue lives with her family and two Labrador Retrievers in Northern Virginia. Visit her at www.suefliess.com.
Khoa Le has illustrated picture books published in a number of different countries, including the 2020 Sydney Taylor Honor book Miriam at the River. She is also an author, a graphic designer, and a painter. Khoa has a passion for travel, an eagerness to learn about different cultures, and a desire to discover the beauty of the world. Her inner moth makes her attracted to any source of light, but her dream is to one day see the northern lights. She lives in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, with her five cats.

Editorial Reviews

"[M]ultiple STEAM applications, from poetry and creative writing to introductions to energy and light to how the sun affects human life, and doubles as a great read-aloud or a starry bedtime story."—starred, Booklist

From the Publisher

2019-11-24
Light appears in many forms, especially in celebrations.

Rays of sunlight sparkle on a garden. The northern lights swirl across an evening sky. From the morning sun to the nighttime moon, light shines all around. This book follows four children from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The children never all meet, but several spreads include them all via interlocking backgrounds, highlighting their shared experiences. For instance, each child views Fourth of July fireworks with two parents or caregivers. (These pairs each present male and female.) Then each family observes its own winter celebration of lights: Yi Peng with a Thai family; Diwali with an Indian family; Hanukkah with a white family; Christmas with a black family. Concise stanzas of five or six syllables evoke the wonder, movement, or purpose of different light sources: "Shimmer / Glance / Blaze and dance" describes a beach bonfire. Backmatter covers the science of light, including composition, and some manifestations like lightning as well as holiday descriptions. The illustrations, rich with color and patterns, are their own celebration of light, particularly in their warm, golden glows. Similar light sources carry different meanings; a birthday candle's flame gives off fairy-dust-like sparks for a wish while a collection of memorial candles burn strong and steady for healing. The book successfully depicts both scientific and cultural experiences in impressive variety and connections.

A ray of light, both illuminating and beautiful. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews