Night Lights

This Christmas Cassie is turning ten, old enough to have a sip of wine and take part in the dinner party talk about the universe. Cassie imagines the blazing birth of suns and moons and stars, but, when her father speaks of infinity and the folding of space, she decides that some things just won’t fit inside your mind. Shortly after she leaves the holiday table to nap with her cat by the fire, she notices snowflakes melting into her cocoa mug. When her cat disappears into the evergreen forest that has sprouted in the living room, Cassie’s magical journey begins.

Searching for her cat, Cassie discovers the worlds-within-worlds that branch from her living room. She enters a frozen forest where she meets crystal sheep who echo her every word and a mad frog king who delights in silly games and rhymes but has developed a rather nasty habit of staring and something much worse. Then Cassie meets tiny Luma, who, unlike the other sheep, doesn’t repeat Cassie’s words. She is, in fact, quite brilliant and instructive in the strange physics of the forest universe. With the help of Luma and Sir Herring, a fatherly wizard of suns and moons and fish, Cassie must solve the mystery of her missing cat and the disappearing light that threatens the crystal creatures in this amazing universe of whispering flowers, talking swans, singing icicles and an indifferent French moon.

Evoking the feeling of classic children’s literature, NIGHT LIGHTS is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and A Wrinkle in Time. Kids, especially girls nine to twelve years old, will relate to Cassie. If the story is read to younger children, they will enjoy the magical characters, whimsical rhymes and colorful imagery. But the narrative resonates on many levels, with cross-over appeal to older children and adults. Twenty-three dreamy, full color illustrations weave through this winter night’s tale about space and time, sense and nonsense, and the power of imagination.