First sentence: This is the light that brings the dawn to warm the sky and hug the land. It sips the sea to make the rain, which waters wheat to grow the grain.
Premise/plot: Simple text, complicated design highlight a new-age-y message for little ones? I'm not one hundred percent sure of that last bit--that's opinion not fact. But regardless the text is simple and the design is complicated.
My thoughts: If the book did not end in an obscure, abstract, obviously-vague, perhaps new-age-y way (This light is you. And you are light.) then perhaps I could overlook the strange, quirky nature of the book. Sure, this book is a little out there--but it's harmless. It could provide entertainment for bored adults who are looking for a book to hold up to light--windows. There are worse ways to entertain yourself, right?! If only the text had stayed whimsical...but it didn't.
I foresee that there will be people who LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book and think it's super-creative, incredibly profound, a piece of art in and of itself. There will be people that, on the other hand, think it's way over-rated and just a waste of time. Then perhaps there will be a small handful of Christians who object to the content being pushed. I fall into two of those groups. Even without the possible agenda being pushed, I think this is a case of the Emperor's New Clothes--and the emperor is NAKED.
That being said, I did hold the book up to a window with the sun coming through--to see if it "improved" the book. It did--slightly. I'm not bored enough to do it again.
© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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