LIGHTS OUT: A MOVEMENT TO HELP MIGRATING BIRDS: A KidLit Chicken Guide Assessment

Writer Jessica Stremer got down to write an image e-book about all the risks confronted by migrating birds. When she submitted her manuscript to her agent, the 2 determined to do a deeper dive right into a single difficulty. The consequence—Lights Out: A Motion to Assist Migrating Birds—was printed this spring by Paula Wiseman books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

In Lights Out, Jessica focuses on sparrows. Of all chook species, White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) have the unlucky distinction of being the highest “Tremendous-Collider.” Tremendous-colliders, the birds most susceptible to collisions with glass, each migrate at night time and name out to one another in flight. After they develop into disoriented, their calls draw others in, making a vicious cycle of demise. Within the US alone, an estimated 600 million birds die annually colliding with glass—and that horrifying quantity was printed again in 2014, and is assumed to have elevated considerably up to now decade. 

Illustration by Bonnie Pang

With image books geared toward younger audiences, vivid and cheery illustrations are wanted to offset the emotional weight that may include the subject of ecological catastrophe. Illustator Bonnie Pang is a Hong Kong primarily based comedian artist, and her light-filled palette, open area and wide-eyed character create an inviting, hopeful story that attracts readers in. 

The Lights Out Motion started again in 1995, when FLAP Canada (the Deadly Lights Consciousness Program) partnered with the World Wildlife Fund of Canada to launch the primary “Lights Out” initiative, a bird-friendly constructing program. Since then, Lights Out has grown to greater than 45 cities throughout North America, and there are requires international applications to carry again the darkish.  

Throughout her analysis, Jessica discovered that children have been instrumental within the unfold of the Lights Out motion. Youngsters drew photos and wrote letters—after which shared that data with native companies and metropolis leaders. She highlights these actions within the books, and reveals ways in which children might make a distinction. “I needed to depart children empowered, with small actions that they will do.”

Illustration by Bonnie Pang

In a podcast with Jessica, Michael Culligan of the Lighting and Darkness Basis famous that mild air pollution is commonly regarded as a metaphor, as not “actual” air pollution. Nonetheless, Lights Out demonstrates the true—and lethal—results of sunshine trespass. And the issue isn’t simply with metropolis skyscrapers. Over 40% of window fatalities consequence from collisions with buildings only one to a few tales tall. That implies that the options should come from all of us. 

The e-book’s backmatter gives a few of these solutions. There may be further data on birds, migration, flyways, the risks of sunshine air pollution and the Lights Out motion. A “ Assist” part gives steerage and strategies for kids, regardless of the place they dwell. These embody strategies on turning off lights or changing them with bird-friendly lighting, making home windows safer for birds, and steerage on what to do if you happen to discover an injured chook. 

Written by Jessica Stremer, Illustrated by Bonnie Pang

It is a e-book for all colleges and libraries, and for all properties with younger children. It’s a e-book to encourage love of nature, a e-book that reveals simply what an unimaginable distinction children could make. 

Lights Out: A Motion to Assist Migrating Birds by Jessica Stremer, illustrated by Bonnie Pang

Paula Wiseman Books (Simon & Schuster), 2024

ISBN: 978-1-6659-3197-7

$18.99 USA; $23.99 Canada

48 pages, Grade stage PreS-3 (4-8 years)