Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, April 7 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Monday, April 3. Order within 7 hrs 17 mins

In Stock

[{"displayPrice":"$18.99","priceAmount":18.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"18","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"85X0Kvjo2vLPqdra8JJ9KoBGbXkTGtnQm8rad5dg8tndjgwZ1A2Hjhu0e2jqYMN%2FhzU%2Fk2K7LG%2FAZJMsFYqmYPXL2VlRHFpxBB6ciL2uUSNH3%2FG1QuKVK5gNkzoFWgAwq0DShQvEeSI%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$10.98","priceAmount":10.98,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"98","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"85X0Kvjo2vLPqdra8JJ9KoBGbXkTGtnQYCqy7HRHcLyvFXir4tCqvJeCtbXWOsHz7pZ6GMj82s4SrEujxGdMwEcPLok3%2BYUwGYJKiM%2B3WwO7HvA%2FfK8ukQUpIQEWm%2Bovpl6pPp2kmmBUBpRWNdGtxAOuDz4uD%2FI%2Fkgq94wArIMajolXQ8%2BchT9uVbR7NB%2F9K","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$18.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Friday, April 7 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Monday, April 3. Order within 10 hrs 32 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$13.97
+ $4.55 shipping

Sold by: Pen & Parchment Media

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Molly Bang

My Light: How Sunlight Becomes Electricity (Sunlight Series) Hardcover – Picture Book, March 1, 2004

by Molly Bang (Author, Illustrator)

22 ratings

Part of: Sunlight (4 books)

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover, Picture Book

"Please retry"

$18.99

$13.97

$1.35

Paperback

"Please retry"

$24.50

$20.94

$1.21

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

—

$11.35

Enhance your purchase

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.

Reading age

4 - 8 years
Part of series

Sunlight
Print length

40 pages
Language

English
Grade level

Preschool - 3
Lexile measure

560L
Dimensions

9 x 0.25 x 10.75 inches
Publisher

The Blue Sky Press
Publication date

March 1, 2004
ISBN-10

043948961X
ISBN-13

978-0439489614
See all details

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Choose items to buy together.

by Molly Bang Hardcover
$18.99
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 7
by Molly Bang Hardcover
$14.37
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 7
by Molly Bang Hardcover
$17.19
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 7

Molly Bang
97
Hardcover
78 offers from $1.59
Molly Bang
79
Hardcover
71 offers from $4.93
Molly Bang
27
Hardcover
80 offers from $1.75
Molly Bang
33
Hardcover
Editors' pickBest Nonfiction for Kids
73 offers from $2.15
Molly Bang
25
Hardcover
83 offers from $1.59
Molly Bang
120
Hardcover
91 offers from $1.59

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5-Bang has chosen a huge topic, and in some ways, it overwhelms her. Writing in the voice of the sun, the first-person narrative investigates various forms of energy on Earth, all derived in one way or another from the light and heat of this solar system's major star. It's an enormous task-how to describe the weather cycle, dams, turbines, electricity and its generation, windmills, fossil fuels (she mentions coal but leaves out oil), and solar cells in an illustrated book for fairly young children-and Bang is only moderately successful. Indeed, in the introduction to four pages of much denser end matter, the author mentions that her notes started turning into an encyclopedia, but, mercifully, an editor "cut them WAY back. Now those notes are on my Web site at www.mollybang.com, and I hope interested readers will do further research on their own." Overall, the author makes a valiant stab, and for science-minded children who can absorb a large amount of information, this title could be an interesting selection. Her stunning and technically accomplished illustrations, as always, are radiant and worth a look. Despite its shortcomings, this ambitious book is an illuminating auxiliary purchase.-Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 1-3. A typical science text for kids might define light as "shifting electromagnetic fields." In Bang's outstanding new picture-book exploration of light and energy, electromagnetism is mentioned only in the endnote, and the accessible text, narrated by the sun ("I am your sun, a golden star. You see my radiance as light"), will be far more meaningful for children than one with stock definitions. Bang focuses on four scenarios in which the generation of electricity can be traced back to the sun: a hydroelectric dam, wind turbines, a coal-burning plant, and solar cells. Making the connection between light, water, wind, and electricity requires a conceptual leap, but tiny yellow dots representing the sun's power as it streams from one form to another will help children grasp the principle of energy conservation. Bang's strong design sense comes through in compositions that gracefully incorporate diagrams and strike a balance between graphic forms and delicate, decorative patterns. Particularly notable is a jungle landscape reminiscent of Rousseau that will delight kids with its individually rendered, jewel-like foliage. Careful endnotes, not final in the version reviewed, touch on everything from dark matter to atoms to pollution. A lovely and illuminating book that presents sound science while expressing the wonder of flipping a switch and flooding a room with light. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Blue Sky Press; First Edition (March 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 40 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 043948961X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0439489614
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 - 8 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 560L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 3
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 0.25 x 10.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #946 in Children's Recycling & Green Living Books
- #1,294 in Children's Environment & Ecology Books (Books)
- #2,459 in Children's Environment Books (Books)

Customer Reviews:
22 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Molly Bang

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Molly Bang is an award winning children's book illustrator and author. Her

works include 3 Caldecott Honor Books: Ten, Nine, Eight, The Grey Lady and the

Strawberry Snatcher, and When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry, which

also won a Jane Addams Honor Award and the Arbuthnot Award. The Paper Crane

won the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award in 1987; Goose won the School of Library

Journal Best Book of 1996 and another work, Common Ground: The Water, Earth,

and Air We Share, won the prestigious Giverny Book Award in 1998 for the best

children's science picture book. Her latest book, My Light, is an ALA Notable

book.

Her only work for adults is Picture This, which shows how an understanding of

the most basic principles enable a person to build powerful pictures. It is

used by art and graphic departments in colleges around the country.

Bang received her bachelor degree from Wellesley in French, and Masters in

Far Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona and at Harvard. She has also

worked as a reporter; as an educator for public health projects in Bangladesh

and in Mali, West Africa, incorporating information on maternal and child

health into stories; and as a teacher in colleges.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

22 global ratings

5 star		70%
4 star		24%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		7%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Robert P.

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

nice book but a section of the binding fell apart on opening

Helpful

Beverly

Great Introduction Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

The visuals capture the children's attention and lots of great vocabulary to introduce! The children love it as a read-aloud. Aligns nicely to the NGSS for 1st grade.

Helpful

Odile F.

like the other books in the series

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

Again, like the other books in the series, this book is a delight. Beautiful language and illustrations to capture the imagination of adults and children alike.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

Super book to incorporate into your lessons with : Light, Electricity, Plants, and Natural Resources.

Helpful

Rudolph Dehn

It's an `OK' primer for very young children. I ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

It's an `OK' primer for very young children. I was hoping something a little more sphisticated suitable for 7 to 10 year olds.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

Beautifully written and illustrated.

Helpful

Betsy Bird

Molly Bang ala Peter Sis' style

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 2, 2004

If you ever want to freak a kid out (or, in more professional terms, cause a kid to think in a constructive manner) ask them to consider what life would be like without electricity. After some considerations of this awful possibility the child you speak to may have a newfound appreciation for something he or she has always taken for granted before. But where does electricity really come from? How is it made? Author/illustrator Molly Bang has made a graceful departure from her adorable fiction based picture books into that nebulous territory known as non-fiction. "My Light" shows the myriad ways in which our own dear Sun has created (either directly or indirectly) the energy we use in our very light bulbs.

Says the Sun at the beginning of the book, "When you see the city lights at night, they look like stars have fallen down to earth". That, the sun points out, is a pretty smart assessment. After all, the Sun is a star and almost all the electric light in the world began with it. To explain how this works we are privy to various displays of energy, transferred to earth in multiple ways. One section discusses how the sun causes water to evaporate, rain, fall into rivers, and eventually operate the dams that create energy via generators. Too complex an idea? What about the fact that the sun causes warm air to rise so that cooler air operates the giant electric turbines of the world? And don't forget that coal was once living trees that needed the sun for their growth. Heck, solar power itself is explored in this book too, giving kids a clear vision of solar cells. Tying together the theme of continually shifting energy, the book ends by pointing out that all light, even electric ones, eventually fade back into space in some way. The back of the book contains additional information about the various topics touched on, giving more details on the various types of electricity available to us. It is here that Bang mentions that in her original conception of this book she had some many notes that they, "started turning into an encyclopedia". For kids doing science projects on electricity, Bang suggests that see these notes on her website at [...] Bang is to commended for these sections, if only because she offers ample explanations about which forms of energy are pollutants and which ones aren't.

Moreover, you cannot say that Bang hasn't covered her bases in this book. Her facts, as presented in the text, are clear and easy for kids to understand. The book is also the author's most beautiful to date. Much like fellow author/illustrator Peter Sis, Bang has adopted a style of art that works perfectly within the context of her tale. The sun emits thousands of tiny yellow dots, all representing the energy that floats across space and to the Earth itself. By watching these yellow dots of energy, kids have a clear image of how they are transferred from the sun, to the water, to the rain, to the river, and finally into electricity itself. Bang's generators glow with remarkable beauty all the while remaining scientifically accurate. Whether she's showing the intricate details in the cell structure of a plant leaf or displaying the methods by which coal-fired electricity "flows in copper wires", the book is immensely interesting.

Some of Bang's books in the past, while good, have a messy edge to them. Don't get me wrong... I'm a huge fan of her "Ten, Nine, Eight", as well as "When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry..". But those picture books were always just flirting with Bang's slapdash painting style. Here, in "My Light", she's eschewed that school of art for a book that's very tightly reined in. The lines here are clear and straight. Her towns are realistically rendered and I've yet to see a book that displays a night-time cityscape from above any better than she does here. With the aid of unknown thousands of tiny dots, Bang has (in my mind anyway) graduated from merely okay picture books to spectacularly good ones. If you're looking for a book that is scientific but also deeply beautiful (and factual too, for what it counts) this is your best bet. I can't push it into your arms fast enough. Buy it now and enjoy it fully.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jill Julin

detailed, yet simple

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 25, 2011

This book gives a clear understanding of energy. It shows energy being stored, converted and used. The illustrations and verbal presentation are simple enough for a young child, yet interesting to an adult who generally thinks little about where the energy we use comes from (me!).

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust