Lights Out

MY THOUGHTS

Sometimes all you need is a story with a warm, fuzzy, happy ending to make everything right as rain at the end of a long day. Also, not all children’s picture books are white, bright, and colourful. Some show what happens when it’s Lights Out! 

We are currently riding the Vibha Batra wave, loving everything she writes. After falling in love with Pinkoo Shergill and Gobi Goes Viral, we have also devoured Kolam Kanna (review soon), so when we got Lights Out written by her, I knew the kids would love it. 

Lights Out is loosely based on a true story. In the book, Karthik and his Appa go to the junction box to turn on the lights for the small village of Poothakkudi. But they see a sparrow’s nest in the box; the nest has eggs! Turning on the junction box might harm the sparrow and her eggs, but the village folk can’t go about their activities with no lights! A few of them want to wait till the eggs hatch, but the others want the sparrow to be shooed away and the lights turned on immediately. The rest of the book shows how the village comes together for a good cause and waits patiently to hear baby sparrows chirping. 

I loved that the author included a page about how the people made small changes in their routines to accommodate the sparrow and her eggs. This is such an important lesson to highlight for little kids. The story also gives us a glimpse into village life.

The stark, monochromatic illustrations are absolutely stunning! Sahitya Rani’s use of blues, blacks, and browns to show a dark village is mesmerizing and I loved looking at the little details she has included. 

This book is perfect for a bedtime read and a great choice if you are looking to gift a book to an emerging reader.