We Celebrate the Light

A celebration of seven different winter holidays observed in the US and the traditions that unite them all.

Diwali, Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, and Lunar New Year are visually depicted in turn, accompanying a stunning, read-aloud text that speaks of the traditions that link them all together. The warm yet accurate imagery is explained in simple secondary text on each spread, and further in the backmatter. Beloved author Jane Yolen and daughter, author Heidi Stemple, have crafted a loving and poignant story with true reverence for our shared traditions of celebrating light, love, food, and family. An empowering, informative, and inclusive holiday book for families of all traditions.

Jane Yolen has just published her 380th book! A good portion of her oeuvre focuses on nature, such as the Caldecott winner OWL MOON (in its 80th printing), a series of picture books on birds with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the highly acclaimed picture book You Nest Here with Me, and National Geographic's Fly with Me. Her books have won many nature awards including The Green Earth Award, the John Burroughs Award, and the National Outdoor Book Award. She is also the author of the How Do Dinos picture book series, which has collectively sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Jane lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts, next door to her adult daughter, Heidi.

Heidi E.Y. Stemple is a second-generation writer. She spends as much time teaching and talking with kids as she does writing. She has published 28 books, mostly for children, and many of them co-written with her mother, Jane Yolen. Her newest solo book, Counting Birds (Quarto), made the NSTA Outstanding Science and the Best STEM lists, won the John Burroughs Riverby Award, and was named a Green Earth Book Award honoree. Heidi lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts, next door to her mother, Jane.

Jieting Chen is a New York-based illustrator and animator. With years of experience, she produced and directed several award-winning short animations. Her illustrations are strongly influenced by oriental paintings, in which the points of view are delicate and sensitive. When not illustrating, she enjoys watching films with her wife and cat, listening to raining sound tracks, or simply letting her mind go blank so she can see where inspiration organically strikes next.