My Light: How Sunlight Becomes Electricity

by Molly Bang

Caldecott Honor artist Molly Bang celebrates the many wonders of the sun, with radiant words and images that illuminate the myriad ways in which the sun gives us energy and power from its light. Often taken for granted, the sun gives us more than its light. Here, acclaimed author and illustrator Molly Bang presents a celebration of the wonder and power of the sun and its radiance. With dazzling paintings and a simple poetic text, MY LIGHT follows the paths of the sun's rays, showing the many ways in which we obtain energy from its light. As in COMMON GROUND (Giverny Award for Best Science Picture Book), Bang uses a story to explain the basic concepts behind electricity and our energy resources--a compelling and easily-accessible way to present a non-fiction subject.

Genres: Science, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Nature, Physics, Stem

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is astonishingly lyrical for a book explaining basic life science principles to tykes.
And Bang's paintings are gorgeous.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book about how the sun's energy is transformed into electricity for us to use.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We recently read Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas and Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring The Earth To Life, and we found My light to be a good companion to those works. My niece thinks that these books are most enjoyable and effective when read together, because they sort of build upon each other. Although these don't have to be read in any particular order, I thought My Light made a good final book. While it's similar to the other two books, those two are more similar to one another, and My Light takes us in a slightly different direction.

After we finished this book we talked about what we had learned about the sun. The kids learned that without the sun there would be no life and no energy for us to harness. Then the kids spent time looking around the room and identifying various objects that require energy to run. This was another well done, informative book!

[sarafem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I have five minutes to run down to the library and I do a clean sweep; if it looks interesting or I recognize the author or title, I grab it and go. I am not ashamed to admit that the pretty cover drew me in and seeing the author was Molly Bang is all it took for me to check it out.

It's a very simple book, lower third grade level, about the sun's energy. It goes through its different forms and how to capture it, through hydropower, solar panels, turbines, etc. It was actually pretty interesting to me because one connection I had never really made is that all energy starts with the sun. That probably makes me sound like an idiot, of course it does, but what I mean is that I always thought of solar power, wind energy, hydropower, fossil fuels, etc. as separate forms of energy. When I think about it now I see that the sun is the starting point for all of this, and it just fascinates me. The sun started everything.

[Jacqui Pollard · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My Light," written and illustrated by Molly Bang, is written from the perspective of the sun. From having read this, I realize now that I was unaware of how much of the sun's energy is in practically everything I see, touch, use, eat, etc. every single day. It's almost so much that I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea! I liked how the illustrations made use of the color yellow and "energy dots" to illustrate the sun's energy in the various scenarios described, as this was helpful in my better understanding of what was being explained in the text. This book would be useful in supplementing instruction in the classroom covering energy. Other than that, I personally did not find the book all that fascinating, but I can see how it could be used for teaching science in the classroom.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot Summary:
This book tells how we use energy to get electricity: dams, turbines, fossil fuels, steam, and solar cells. It is written in simple text for children, and the back of the book has more detailed descriptions from the author about how electricity is made.
Personal Evaluation:
This book is a great introduction to electricity for children. The illustrations help kids to visualize very difficult concepts. The author’s detailed explanation at the back of the book is quite complex, and would be better used for older children, or possibly as information for the teacher.
Memorable Literary Element:
The author personifies the sun and its energy, and the book is told from the perspective of the sun. This is unique, and a point of view I had not really considered.
Illustrations:
The illustrations are imaginative and detailed, and the sun’s energy is represented with small yellow dots throughout the book, showing how energy moves throughout each of the processes. I like how the author has given simple illustrations to show how each of the power plants work.

[Emma Apple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science! I love science picture books! This one was really sweet and airy, almost spiritual feeling, but also completely about energy and how it works, and how it comes from the sun. It’s actually narrated by the sun, which is interesting on its own. The illustrations are absolutely lovely, contrasted and boldly colored, just very, very fun to look at. We start off with a description of the water cycle and how the sun’s heat facilitates that, we go on to learn about how humans utilize this energy to make electricity, how plants use the sun’s energy for food, we even hear about solar panels and wind turbines. All of it is written in a very smooth, child friendly way. Really, very enjoyable, flows well, teaches all about energy. This should absolutely be on any science lovers bookshelf!

(This review is from my Picture Book Blog series. Read more here: http://creativemuslimwomen.com/pictur... )

[Melinda Garman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great content book told from the sun's point of view. Very colorful and vibrant. Tells all about the cycle of energy. How the sun is the major source of energy and water rises to form clouds, rains, and how we harness energy with dams and turbines. Also cycle of plants- plants get energy from sun-plants give energy to things that eat it-plants die-buried for millions of years and turn into coal-humans burn coal. Good for 3rd through 5th grade.

[Angela Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about electricity and is a great book to use cross-curriculum in reading and science. The illustrations are vivid in color and helps to explain the turning process of suns energy to electricity. At the end of the book, it gives an breakdown of how electricity is produced on more of a scientific level verses reading a story about it. It has some interesting facts that children would enjoy.

[Allison Homeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Light by Molly Bang, a book that highlights just how important our star, our sun is important to us and our life. This beautiful book follows the path of the sun's rays. It shows how we obtain our energy from its light.
I absolutely adored this book! I found it insightful and and beautifully written. It was a compelling way to present a non-fiction subject.
I would use this book in a therapy session to teach children the concept of night and day.

[SaraKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Molly Bang's books about how sunlight powers Earth processes. This one focuses more on how we use the sun's energy to power our homes and such. Teachers who want to engage students in a discussion on where the energy comes from that we use everyday will find this book a wonderful tool. The art is fantastic as always and different types of energy such as solar, coal, hydroelectric, wind are discusses as it shows how they come from the sun originally.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did with poetry what so often we find it difficult to explain in plain speech, the transferance of energy from one form to another. It's a great science text and the endnotes are incredible and apparently, Molly Bang's website has still further information on the subject. This book was incredibly well done. I was very impressed.

[Jennifer Borduin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that shows all the different ways the Sun provides energy to the earth. This book lightly covers the topics of how the Sun affects the water cycle, power generators, photosynthesis, and more. Students can go through the book and list natural ways the Suns energy is used and man made ways humans use the energy.

[Sue Pak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to use from 2nd-5th grade.
This book is in the perspective of a sun. I like this book because it is a good content book. It touches on how the sun not only provides light, but it takes on so many roles. Good to use when teaching energy and cycles.

I think this book is pretty helpful for children to understand, because it lets them see a concept from another perspective.

[Allison Burke]

This book teaches about how humans get electricity from the sun and how generators work. The book shows how technology and engineering receive electricity while showing how different types of machines work. This book could be used for third through fourth grade, depending on what the Next generation science standards tells us where these concepts should be taught.

[Abby Curtis]

The informative book My Light is about the energy from the sun and how it interacts with the environment. I paired this book with The Sun is my Favorite Star by Frank Asch. These two book both describe the jobs that the sun does for us in different ways and how the sun is good for us. These books are kindergarden to 3rd grade level.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fabulous book tells how the suns energy gives the world energy and electricity. It's beautifully illustrated and simply explains things that most adults don't think about. I admit that I'm partial to Molly Bang and am a fan of almost everything she's done.

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fantastic picture book depicting the interconnectedness between starlight and the lightbulb light in a city.

A great way to introduce kids to some of the science behind the energy debates currently going on (e.g. electricity conservation, green energy, nuclear, etc, etc).

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good use for a science class. Students who take interest in science but not reading so much, might take interest when they're reading about something that want to learn about. This book is packed with information of where light comes from and what makes the light.

[Sharia A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the celebration of the sun. This book is about how the sun is forgotten. The book is great for students to have a science lesson about the sun. The teachers can read this story aloud outside. This book could be used for Pre-K -3rd grade students.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In very simple terms, Molly Bang explains how energy from the sun and the universe can be captured on Earth to provide warmth, electricity, and power. Interesting passage on wind turbines and wind farms and how they can provide electricity for a whole town.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this overview of various things getting energy from the sun and how we capture it to use for electricity in various ways. My son thought it was so cool to learn where electricity comes from in a simple way.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book on how the sun creates electricity through the cycle of life. Complex ideas told simply. Maybe too simply, but is an excellent read aloud to introduce the science topic and to generate questions for research.

[Kyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for kids to visualize how electricity works.

[Keegan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like anybody pretty much could learn from this book. It explains energy in simple terms and with simple but colorful pictures.

[Kristin]

Explosive illustrations make this poetic description of the sun, photosynthesis, and life absolutely breath-taking.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written book for children about the sun light and how its energy is harnessed and the effects of the different ways we use energy.

[Teri · Rating 1 out of 5]

blah---the science in this is pretty shaky and it's terribly written.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great nonfiction for children with beautiful illustrations.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

All three books by Molly Bang about light, energy, and electricity are fascinating. I don't know why they're not required trade books for every seasons/weather/electricity unit ever designed.