Ray

Ray is a globe light bulb in a family's storage closet that "goes from here to there. That's it." His only company is a child who occasionally uses the closet as a "secret hideout," a spider named Tom, and 41 items that Ray has counted many, many times. Mostly, Ray is left quite literally in the dark, which, Coppo (Petra) writes, "is boring if you don't know how to fill it." But when Ray is put into a lantern and travels with the family on a camping trip, the world opens up for him as naïf digitized tempera and pastel drawings reveal a verdant, wooded landscape filled with flora, fauna, and natural phenomena, including "the biggest light bulb in the world"--the sun. Readers attached to fair outcomes may feel indignant when the "glowing" Ray is resequestered in the closet following the family's return home. But to Coppo, life really is what one makes of it, and Ray has received an incredible gift--all the memories and fodder for imagination that he needs to create a whole world out of a dim situation. Ages 3-7. (May)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 2--Ray is a light bulb who spends most of his time in a dark closet. When the switch is flipped on, Ray is able to see all of the things he shares with the closet, including book covers, secret hideouts, and Tom the spider. But Ray spends most of his time alone in the dark. And darkness is boring if you don't know how to fill it. Time passes this way, until one day everything changes when Ray is moved to a portable lantern and taken on a trip far away to an unfamiliar landscape. Ray can't figure out where it begins or where it ends. He has never felt so small. Just as Ray is drifting off to sleep, something happens. As the sun slowly rises, Ray feels the glow of "the biggest light bulb in the world." He returns home to the closet and everything looks the same, but for Ray, it is another world entirely. Coppo (Petra) has returned with another lovable new character in Ray, who reminds readers that all it takes is a little change in perspective to open up a whole new world. VERDICT A charming and illuminating story, and a wonderful addition to all libraries.--Elizabeth Blake, Fields Corner Library, Dorchester, MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Ray is an unexpected, endearing hero who shines brightly in this tale. —STARRED REVIEW, Booklist

"Coppo has returned with another lovable new character in Ray, who reminds readers that all it takes is a little change in perspective to open up a whole new world." —STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal