Lucy's Light

by Margarita Del Mazo, Silvia Álvarez (Illustrator), Jon Brokenbrow (Translator)

Overview

Winner at the 2016 Gellet Burgess Award - Society & Culture at the 2016 International Latino Book Awards.

Lucy’s Light is a tale about the importance of shining as brightly as you can, with the light that we all carry within us and makes us unique.

Lucy is the youngest member of a family of fireflies. She wants to shine like all the others, but she’s too little to head off to light up the forest. Finally, after waiting and waiting, it is Lucy’s turn. She is ready! She can head off to light up the forest, but something is stopping her.

The following evening, when it’s time to set off, Lucy's excitement disappears, and she doesn’t want to leave. Fortunately, her family supports her and encourages her to shine bright and trust herself no matter what. Being aware of one’s talent is difficult, but we must remember that we are unique, and we have so much to share!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788416147007
Publisher:	Cuento de Luz
Publication date:	11/10/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Margarita del Mazo is a Spanish storyteller and award-winning writer born in a small town in the province of Toledo. She studied Law, although her path was twisted into the wonderful world of stories and picture books. She currently teaches workshops on storytelling, creative writing, reading encouragement, theater for children, and more. She collaborates with institutions such as the Cervantes Institute, the Reina Sofía National Museum, the ABC Museum, the Thyssen Museum, the Community of Madrid, Castilla La Mancha, the Andalusian Center for Letters, the Casa del Lector (Matadero), town halls, hospitals, festivals (BITA, Etnosur, Hay Festival), storytelling marathons such as the one in Guadalajara, the Parla Cuenta Festival, as well as centers, schools, nursery schools, libraries, and other entities. Her first book was released in 2009 and since then she has published 23 books, some of which have been translated into up to twelve languages. Many of her books have received prestigious national and international awards.

Silvia Álvarez is an award-winning illustrator born in the tropical coastal city of La Ceiba, Honduras, by a Honduran father and a Spanish mother. At the age of seven she moved to Spain now living in Seville where she graduated in Fine Arts. She was awarded Gold Medal at the International Latino Book Awards for her artwork in Daisy (Cuento de Luz, 2017).

Editorial Reviews

09/07/2015
In a sweet but uneven offering, a young firefly’s excitement about lighting up the night with her family turns to intimidation when she realizes how insignificant her light seems compared to that of the moon. Álvarez’s deep shades of blue and violet give the nocturnal forest a magical undertone while contrasting with the fireflies’ fuzzy yellow lights and the white glow of the full moon. And her bug-eyed, bright teal fireflies are adorable, accessorized with cloche hats, newsboy caps, and leaf umbrellas. But the story itself is let down in several places by clunky language and hard-to-track jumps in time. “You’re still too small,” Grandma Firefly tells Lucy one night, “but soon you’ll shine just like everyone else!” On the next page, Lucy’s father tells her that her time has come, but the text doesn’t do enough to help bridge the transition; it feels like the same evening, although more time has presumably passed. Lucy’s elders provide patient, loving reassurances throughout, but her turnaround, sparked by learning that the moon’s light is merely reflected, feels as arbitrary as her initial crisis of confidence. Ages 4–up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Álvarez’s deep shades of blue and violet give the nocturnal forest a magical undertone while contrasting with the fireflies’ fuzzy yellow lights and the white glow of the full moon. And her bug-eyed, bright teal fireflies are adorable, accessorized with cloche hats, newsboy caps, and leaf umbrellas.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2015-07-22
Lucy, "the youngest member of a family of fireflies," must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow. The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: "When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up." Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night "doesn't like to catch them by surprise." Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: "They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it's time to glow!' " It's an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy's excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to "sobbing" two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy's parents' sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother's scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book's short span. Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews