The Lights that Dance in the Night
Telling the story of the Northern Lights as they weave their magic across the Artic skies, ‘The Lights that Dance in the Night’ is the perfect story for winter evenings. Although the book’s blurb calls it a ‘wonderfully festive picture book’, it brings light and joy to the long, dark January nights!
The lyrical, descriptive text is a joy to read aloud as it describes the joyous dance of the lights across the sky, uniting all below in wonder and delight as they ‘sashay’ and ‘sway’ in the sky above. As ever with Yuval’s books, the illustrations are stunning; full of colour and detail, they are truly captivating. The cover is a particular joy with touches of sparkle and a textured, tactile surface.
However, as well as being a beautiful story in its own right, canny teachers will instantly recognise the many ways in which this book could be used to enhance other curriculum areas. The ‘purpose of study’ section of the Geography National Curriculum opens with the statement: A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and this ‘The Lights that Dance in the Night’ certainly does that! This is one of those stories which sparks endless questions and lines of enquiry for children of all ages, not only about the formation of the lights themselves, but also the animals and people who inhabit this region.
Storytellers wove our lights
into tales for long, dark nights.
A constant source of wonder and fascination across the years, the northern lights not only feature in traditional tales of the people indigenous to northern lands, but also feature in stories told more recently, like ‘The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness’ by Michelle Paver. Yuval’s story could be used to inspire writing poetry or descriptive writing about the lights and his illustrations are sure to tempt children to explore a variety of art techniques.
Sitting perfectly with Yuval’s other books, ‘A Thing Called Snow’ and ‘The Tree That’s Meant to Be’, ‘The Lights that Dance in the Night’ is sure to become a firm favourite.
The Lights that Dance in the Night Yuval Zommer
Oxford University Press ISBN: 978-0192769848