October 2018

flashlight

lizi boyd

This month’s book selection is an enchanting wordless picture book called Flashlight, by Lizi Boyd.  Not only do I recommend reading this book, I recommend reading it in the dark with a flashlight!

Light and dark can be powerful experiences for young children.  The simple flick of a switch can really create a different world.  Color becomes black and white, shadows appear, and familiar, everyday objects take on a different form when the lights go out.  Exploring with lightness and darkness can be a wonderful way to explore a child’s imagination.

This book provides the perfect companion for adventures in lightness and darkness.  It is a wordless picture book, which means you and your child can invent the story together.  The pictures provide clues and suggestions as to the direction the story might take. (Make sure to look for the peek-a-boo raccoon in the early pages.)  As the child in the book explores the world with a flashlight, take a moment to point your flashlight at different spots around the room to see what you can see.  The story ends with a warm, shared experience between the child and the forest animals, reminding us all that even in the scary dark, there are friendly helpers all around us.