This enchanting nonfiction picture book catalogs and explores the joyful, mysterious, awe-inspiring, varied messages of light, whether emanating from a firefly or the sun, fireworks or the Big Bang, boats at sea or a bolt of lightning, a movie projector or a rainbow. Luciana Navarro Powell’s gorgeous, color-saturated illustrations follow a group of kids through a magical day and evening in a seacoast town, while Christine Layton’s lyrical text explores the natural history of light. Backmatter provides further adventures in the science of light.

Christine Layton has been a teacher for over thirteen years and uses her early childhood literacy experience to create engaging nonfiction for developing readers. Her work has appeared in magazines, games, and assessments.

Luciana Navarro Powell has created art since childhood and became a full-time illustrator in 2001. She moved from watercolor and acrylic paints to the digital brush—loving the freedom and the possibilities of experimentation with textures—and then to mixed media, incorporating photographs and scanned objects with traditional techniques in a digital melting pot. The colors, vibrancy, and warmth of her native Brazil infuse her work with a sunny optimism, humor, and warm human-animal-landscape interactions. As an immigrant, she makes sure that kids can see themselves in her art.

Light Speaks