Author: Marie Voigt
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Details: £6.99, 32pp, paperback
ISBN: 978-1471173264
The Bumblebees were sitting in silence as we opened the envelope from London and were all so excited to have another mystery book delivered to our classroom. This was the second book we have reviewed this year and Naomi instantly recognised the telltale signs. “It’s a new book, one of the ones that no one else has got yet!” she exclaimed. That was all it took to get 30 children’s attention, all eager to see what was inside.
I was pleasantly surprised by the cover. The rich illustrations leave a sense of awe and wonder for the story ahead. The children generated lots of questions from the front cover and were keen to predict what the story would be about. Grace suggested: “I think they are in a river at night and it’s really dark.” Charlie added: “‘But they don’t look scared because they are both smiling - maybe they are looking for something?”
Before starting the story, we had an impromptu class discussion about what the word “light” means. This was one of those conversations with a large group of 4- to 5-year-olds that I wish I had never entered into, especially 20 minutes before home time. There were so many enthusiastic questions from the class, I instantly knew we would need to revisit this discussion to enable a deeper understanding about light and dark.
The conversation went from discussing our shadows, to night lights in the children’s bedrooms, thoughts about how we feel in the dark, the sun and moon, knowing night from day, and so on. Finally, after a lively and lengthy discussion, we were able to open the story…
The Light in the Night follows Betty, a little girl, on a journey to help a bear. This is not an average bear; Cosmo has unexpectedly jumped out of one of Betty’s bedtime stories. Betty already knows that the character from her story is afraid of the dark and she plans an adventure that gently guides Cosmo to face his fear. The story follows Betty and Cosmo through the journey of friendship, bravery and trust, and Cosmo soon discovers that the darkness can be a beautiful and safe place to be. The end of the story has a wonderful twist, where Betty wonders if it has all been a dream, but upon opening the storybook left on her bedside table, she realises that the pictures inside have changed.
Elsie was the first to notice the subtle shift in the illustrations: “No, it wasn’t a dream because, look, Cosmo was scared in the picture at the beginning and now he has a smile and is winking, so it must have been real.”
Dylan then exclaimed “and the signs above the cave have changed!”
“That’s because he isn’t scared of the dark anymore,” added Harry.
Normally, I ask children to rate a new story out of 10, but on this occasion, there was no need. Some stories just grab the children’s attention and I knew straight away that this one would be a new favourite. The proof was in the pudding when they asked for the same story the following day and Eddy even noted “I want to look at the book in explore time”.
This book is full of carefully detailed illustrations and has a fun, innovative storyline. It’s certainly a thought-provoking book - one that I would recommend for any home or primary school library. It gets a great big thumbs-up from us.
Kerry Swift is the EYFS teacher at Moorlands Schools Federation, Bath
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