WE CARRY THE SUN: Carry This Picture Book Home!

 

NORTON YOUNG READERS, 2025

Award-winning author Tae Keller's narrative talent is paired with luminous and thought-expanding illustrations by Rachel Wada in a gorgeous new picture book about... SOLAR POWER! Before assuming any preconceived opinions about current issues and attitudes regarding solar technology, read this, please. WE CARRY THE SUN is an examination of the all-important place of the sun in our human (and planetary) lives. Launched by intensely golden endpapers, the title page takes readers of any age back to those moments in which we view the sun's brilliance through tree tops. It entices us to stare but demands a raised hand to mitigate its intensity. The sun's incredible power to improve and enlighten our lives is captured in that image, while the title emphasizes the ironic reality that the power of the sun is both out of reach and immediately accessible. 

While this text describes advancing technology, it launches readers into the reality that the sun (which preceded even the formation of our planet) as essential to life. It became a concept in human lives only about six thousand years ago. The language in which this account unfolds  encourages readers to pair their lived experiences with those of the earliest humans just as they lift their faces to the radiant, warming sun. 

Within that same spread, questions arise. Could that natural warmth make its way into homes? Could the daily  and yearly arcs of the sun help predict lives through habits, temperatures, season, and migrations? Thousands of years of humanity's dependence on the sun for warmth and light quickly proceed to recent centuries in which fossil fuels provide some man-made benefits of the sun-- light and heat. Awareness of pollution is home/locale centered (soot and breathing issues), though some thinkers of that era realized that the wider community and planet could suffer as well. Even so, the central concern of the time was the possibility of running out of coal or oil. 

A series of less-that-famous thinkers have their pursuits described, from Augustin Mouchot's studies and experiments with heat traps for the sun and burning mirrors (used centuries earlier in China). A few decades later Charles Fritts explores those ideas further and finds ways to turn sun's light into electric current: the first solar panel! Then Bostonian engineer Aubrey Eneas moves to California for better access to sun and combines solar electric study with an ostrich farm!

Now you certainly must get the idea. Regardless of what you may have known about solar energy and technology, this exploration will take you to untraveled stories of those who contributed to technologies and innovation. Like Marie Telcos and Eleanor Raymond who together designed solar-efficient buildings. To israel where solar water heaters began with a black-painted outdoor tub to bathe a dirty child in warm water.

Even as the contributors continue their travels through time and the pages of this book, the illustrations incorporate lighting that mirrors the opening's glowing outline of the sun on a child's hand. The sun's light lifts, defines, and inspires humans.

As oil and other fossil fuels become more readily accessible (and profitable), the shift to sun as a resource is sidetracked, but not totally. A globe-spanning account of men and women see the need for clean, safe, efficient fuel. Their pursuits bring solar energy to tiny watches and computers and on into space travel, building design, and more. When voices of Earth-awareness advocates gain volume, ideas strengthen and extend to countries throughout the world.

The informative narrative is simple and direct, woven with lyrical phrasing and inspiring questions for readers, resolving as it began with the ultimate challenge: 

"What if we could do even more?"

The text and illustrations allow readers of all genders, ethnicities, locations, ages, and interests to find themselves within that challenge. The author note reveals that she began by wondering "who invented solar panels?". That led to this effectively broad account of various contributors to solar power discoveries and developments. Her note repeats a message I appreciated as subtly conveyed through the main text: every individual can contribute. It is essential that we do, and she provides simple ideas we can all do every day. That author note alone is worth reading aloud to kids and adults. A timeline of SUN power in human history takes two pages and back matter includes other resources for those who want to pursue more details. 

With that summary, it should be obvious that my praise for this nonfiction offering is at the highest level. Not only does the content provide accessible, exciting, and inspiring insights into what we too often dismiss or debate as as "solar power" alternatives. It uplifts our human curiosity and capacity to improve lives for our immediate needs and for future generations. A school-age child enjoying this book could well find toddler siblings sitting in rapt attention at their side, absorbing the illustrations as eagerly as we all look up at a sunny sky.