Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Explore the ways sunlight enriches the Earth, enhanced by colorful, dynamically shifting die-cut circles. Don't be fooled by the board-book format; there's plenty for readers of all ages in this interactive art book, written as a poetic ode to the power and importance of light. Evocatively stylized symbols—a tongue of flame, a sheaf of wheat—fill the middles of the rectos, surrounded by 12 die-cut holes that hold translucent jewel-toned inserts. Younger readers will marvel while holding the book up to the light as each page turn changes the way the colored layers interact and mix, an exploration that the durable plastic circles allow. Older, more sophisticated readers will appreciate the lyrical ponderings on the sun's effects on the water cycle and growing seasons and will find meaning in the book's culmination tying the sun back to readers; text opposite a human silhouette surrounded by a radiating rainbow mandala informs them that "This light is you. And you are light." Becker uses the glowing swatches of color powerfully. Variegated shades of blue circle a wave's crest; a decorative trio of gold, lime, and violet halos grain; a stark penultimate page of white moon against black background has no color at all. This book is demanding of its readers, but those who take the time are in for a treat.A well-crafted art book with emotional resonance. (Board book. 3-8)

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Becker's striking board book about colors, the sun, and, more broadly, the environment and our interconnected ecology features an intricate laser-cut sun surrounded by a dozen different-colored die-cut circles in rainbow order; readers can hold the book up to light for a gorgeous effect. One central image on each spread points to the individuality of various elements in nature, while brief, poetic text simultaneously underscores their synergy.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Explore the ways sunlight enriches the Earth, enhanced by colorful, dynamically shifting die-cut circles. Don't be fooled by the board-book format; there's plenty for readers of all ages in this interactive art book, written as a poetic ode to the power and importance of light. Evocatively stylized symbols—a tongue of flame, a sheaf of wheat—fill the middles of the rectos, surrounded by 12 die-cut holes that hold translucent jewel-toned inserts. Younger readers will marvel while holding the book up to the light as each page turn changes the way the colored layers interact and mix, an exploration that the durable plastic circles allow. Older, more sophisticated readers will appreciate the lyrical ponderings on the sun's effects on the water cycle and growing seasons and will find meaning in the book's culmination tying the sun back to readers; text opposite a human silhouette surrounded by a radiating rainbow mandala informs them that "This light is you. And you are light." Becker uses the glowing swatches of color powerfully. Variegated shades of blue circle a wave's crest; a decorative trio of gold, lime, and violet halos grain; a stark penultimate page of white moon against black background has no color at all. This book is demanding of its readers, but those who take the time are in for a treat.A well-crafted art book with emotional resonance. (Board book. 3-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Becker (the Journey trilogy) celebrates life-sustaining light in this unusual board book. Blending science and poetry with just a few words, the text introduces the ways that light shapes our world: -It sips the sea/ to make the rain-; -It lights the moon/ to kiss the night.- Corresponding symbols (a splashing ocean wave, a bright moon) lie at the center of each elegantly spare spread, surrounded by a ring of die-cut circles that gradually fill in with discs of transparent color as the pages turn. Like Hervé Tullet-s Press Here, this title will invite interactive read-alouds-its sturdy cut-outs are perfectly sized for small hands. Forming a luminous, rainbow-hued sphere when the covers close, the circular pattern of colors resembles stained glass window panels in a house of worship, as well as a secular view through a kaleidoscope, reinforcing the mood of quiet awe and universal connection in the book-s final lines: -This light is you. And you are the light.- Becker-s artful board book offers opportunities for tactile play and deeper contemplation. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)