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.
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:
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.
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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