1st November Diwali

This year, the five-day Hindu festival of lights Diwali falls on 1st November. In Sanskrit, Diwali means "rows of lighted lamps", referring to the tradition of putting small lamps or candles in streets, houses, shops, and public places. Millions of Hindus worldwide gather with their family to feast and watch fireworks. 

Diwali celebrates  the return of Rama and Sita after their 14 years of exile.  Diwali is about the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and the blessing of new beginnings.

Today a teacher sent a child to borrow books about Diwali because someone in the class had talked about it for their 'news' time. I was very pleased about this because we have so many books that are ideal for sharing at this time.

These are worth sharing:

• Shubh Diwali  by Chitra Soundar

• It's Diwali! by Kabir 

• Binny's Diwali  by Thrity Umigar

In past years when the Year 1 students have done a unit of inquiry on celebrations our concrete plaza has become a showcase for chalk-drawn rangoli. Rangoli is an artistic design pattern made on the floor. Coloured sands, coloured rice or flowers are used to make these patterns. In India, Rangoli is part of festive celebrations. Rangoli is not only aesthetic but it is also considered to be a good luck charm.The chalk rangoli were inspired by the book

• Rangoli by Anduradha Ananth

There are of course other books to seek out which will give you more background and other ideas to celebrate the festival.

Other religions also have festivals that celebrate 'light' and these books are good choices to show students what you mean

• Little Glow  by Katie Sahota

This book showcases the amazing celebrations of light across our diverse communities.

• Lighting Our World: A Year of Celebrations by Catherine Rondina

People all over the world come together and use light to celebrate important cultural events. This book shines a light on familiar and unusual festivals that are celebrated each month of the year.

• Zola and the Christmas Lights by Melina Marchetta

This year, Zola and Alessandro are going to decorate the street with Nonno Nino's Christmas lights. Zola's house and Boomerang Street haven't had Christmas lights for two years. But this year, Zola and Alessandro want to continue the tradition. They've learned a lot about tradition lately - and how some families have different beliefs, and others celebrate Christmas differently. 

16th May International Day of Light

The International Day of Light celebrates the role light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy. The celebration will allow many different sectors of society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrates how science, technology, art and culture can help achieve the goals of UNESCO – building the foundation for peaceful societies.

Light is an inspiring subject in many disciplines, and is the perfect catalyst to promote science education among young people. Teaching programmes using light science and technology build worldwide educational capacity through activities targeting children, addressing issues of gender balance, and focussing especially on countries with emerging economies.

Light has influenced and continues to influence human culture. Studying the connection between light and culture throughout history provides valuable insights into the interactions between science, art, and the humanities, and brings greater understanding and appreciation of our cultural heritage.

This is a 'big' topic! I could spend quite a time collecting books together for this, but here I am only going to highlight a small number.

Light, Rainbows and Lasers  by John Lesley

Our sense of sight depends on light but what is light Is it something solid Where does it come from Find out the answers to these questions as well as others you have probably wondered about such as whether invisibility cloaks are a real possibility.

Light Waves  by David A. Adler

A kid-friendly introduction to the physics of light covers the basics of solar energy, the electromagnetic spectrum, photon particles, light scattering, and reflection and refraction

On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne

This picture book biography of Albert Einstein chronicles his development from a boy riding his bicycle through sunbeams to the man who created the Theory of Relativity and whose name would become synonymous with 'genius.'

City of Light by Julia Lawrinson

On Monday 20 Februrary 1962, the people of Perth lit up their city overnight to acknowledge the special mission of American astronaut John Glenn – the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn, in turn, observed that the city was clearly visible from space, and Perth became known worldwide as ‘The City of Light’.

Who's Afraid of the Light  by Anna McGregor

Fergus lives down in the deepest, darkest depths of the sea and is scared of just one thing ... the light! This is a fresh and funny new narrative nonfiction picture book.

16th May International Day of Light

Every year on May 16th, the International Day of Light promotes awareness for the appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, art, education, and sustainable development. The day also recognises the natural benefits of light, as well as its many technological applications.

This new book Spark, Shine, Glow! What a Light Show by Lola Schaefer and James Yang  does just this, tells us what light is and how it shapes and impacts our world.

Light is everywhere: from the shining sun to a bright light bulb to a glowing firefly. Light from a torch helps you see in the dark, and light from the sun makes plants grow. And did you know that light makes X-rays possible, and also keeps cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes moving safely It even allows us to see deep into space! Where would we be without light?

The first official International Day of Light was held on May 16th, 2018. The date May 16th marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser. American physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman is credited for inventing the laser. He fired the first laser in 1960.

Even though everyone knows what light is, it can be hard to define. Light is not just the opposite of darkness. It is electromagnetic radiation within the electromagnetic spectrum that is perceived by the human eye.

When I started teaching Light was a very popular science topic for young children. Teachers and students engaged in experiments with prisms, lens, rainbows, torches, switches, electric  circuits, bulbs... 

Most school libraries had an abundance of science experiment books because of these topics, but many of these books would be old now and have probably been weeded. It is not a topic studied at length with the young students at my school. However there are a few books that I have kept for the keen young scientists.

Light 'shines' in story books though too, in the guise of torchlight, electric light, metaphoric light, lighthouses, light shows, bioluminescence...

A new picture book City of Light  by Julia Lawrenson, Heather Potter and Mark Jackson tells of an historic event that occurred in Perth. On Monday 20th  Februrary 1962, the people of Perth lit up their city overnight to acknowledge the special mission of American astronaut John Glenn – the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn, in turn, observed that the city was clearly visible from space, and Perth became known worldwide as ‘The City of Light’.

Other books that look at historical events that feature light or lack of it are:

• Blackout  by John Rocco

On a hot night in the city of New York, everyone in the family is busy with their own activities-too busy to play with the young girl hoping for a partner in a board game. When the electricity suddenly goes out, however, the busy family slows down; at first "huddled around flashlights and candles" together, they're then driven by the heat to the apartment-building roof, where they discover a power-free block party in progress and a sky full of stars usually bleached out by city glow. 

•  Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nicoll Fights the San Francisco Fog  by Caroline Arnold and Rachel Sumpter

This book is inspired by  the logbooks of a female light keeper who kept the light shining through the fog during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Two new books that look at bioluminescence are Who is Afraid of the Light? by Anna McGregor and The Science of Light: Things that Shine, Flash and Glow by Margaret Peot. 

Some favourites of mine worth looking for:

• Chandra's Magic Light by Theresa Heine and Judith Gueyfier is a heartwarming story set in Nepal of two resourceful sisters who bring the safety of solar-powered light to their family.

• On a Beam of Light; A Story of Albert Einstein  by Jennifer Berne and Vladimir Radunsky is a  picture book biography of Albert Einstein which chronicles his development from a boy riding his bicycle through sunbeams to the man who created the Theory of Relativity.

• Flash and Gleam: Light in our World by Sue Fleiss and Khoa Le follows four children as they experience different forms of light. The soft glow of a candle, the blink of a firefly, a burst of fireworks-light is everywhere in our world! 

• Fox in the Night  by Martin Jenkins and Richard Smythe  is the perfect introduction to light and dark. Fox is hungry. She waits until it's dark and then she hunts for food, using the moon and the streetlights to find her way. 

• Light Bulb  by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld is a "biography" of the light bulb, an essential invention that lights up our days and nights.

• Who left the Light On?  by Richard Mariner and Aude Maurel tells the story of how in a town where everyone follows the rules, one neighbour's decision to leave the light on at night completely disrupts the neighbourhood, sparking a creative revolution. Vibrant, poetic, and fun, Who Left the Light On? playfully teaches the powerful lesson that diversity, creativity, and individuality should be celebrated. 

• You Are Light by Aaron Becker is  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.

• Share Some Kindness Bring Some Light  by April Stott tells how when Bear is sad, the other animals think he's mean because he's so big. But his human friend, Coco, offers to help him. Coco shares her grandmother's advice: "When life gets dark as winter's night, share some kindness, bring some light." 

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25th June Books Light Up Our World

The school holidays have begun, but my planning for next term has begun too. Next term we will celebrate Book Week in Australia and I am programming for lessons and planning the library displays. The theme is Books Light Up Our World. Initially I thought this was a hard theme to get across to under 8s, but the more I mind mapped and explored 'light' the more tangents I went off on. There were all the picture books that featured moonlight and the sun. There were folktales that featured the sun. There were fairytales such as Aladdin that had lamps. There were all the stories associated with festivals such as Divali, New Year, Hannukah, Easter and the Pascal candle. There were wonderful biographies about people such as Florence Nightingale and her lamp, Farnsworth and the invention of television, Edison and Franklin. There are hundreds of nonfiction possibilities to do with sources of light -  'light', 'fire', 'sun', 'stars' etc.

Our school's motto is 'Let Your Light Shine', so then I went off on all the possibilities to do with this and how students could read books that allowed them to follow up with actual practical acts of kindness, helpfulness or a display of their own talents.


Just where to go and how to keep it contained? While doing the bulk loans for classrooms I removed anything that remotely fitted the theme and ended up with piles and piles of books, some of which hadn't left the library for quite a while. I couldn't believe how many picture books had a 'torch' on the cover and even more with one inside!  (see my Pinterest page) Add to that all the First Discoveries Torchlight books and the new series of Shine-a-Light books by Carron Brown and I was really excited about the possibilities.

One of the picture books that I found was  Wonderful Life by Helen Ward. It had been borrowed only once so I sat and read it to find out why it hadn't been more popular. After all, the illustrations were glorious. This is the story of Snutt, a creature who is desperate to explore all worlds, see new things and travel more than any of his kind. It really is  a story that epitomises the theme! It is about creativity, friendship, the environment and following your dreams. I will certainly be promoting it. The vocabulary is worth discussing. What are 'euphoric florifors', tufters' and 'flewimols'? Illustrations such as this one would make a fantastic See Think Wonder discussion.