The Night of Many Lights
C.R. Lindemer
Illustrated by Laura Redmond

Shapato Publishing
April 2011/ ISBN 978-0-9833526-5-5
Children’s/Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

Ne-Pah-Win is the name of a Native American weather vane. He has slept at his post for 100 years, but is awakened by a cloud of magical fireflies and wishes to be free like them. When his wish is granted, he plans to fly North, East, South and West to meet new friends. He meets a horse, a grasshopper, a pig and an angel, all of them weather vanes too, and they fly to all corners of the world sharing exciting adventures.

The Lakota names are used for the horse, grasshopper and pig, and Ojibwe names for the sleeping Indian (Ne-Pah-Win) and the Angel (Shu-Shu-Gah). The names and the different languages provide a nice opening for children to learn a little about Indian languages.

The story is truly a delightful adventure as the friends fly amongst the night sky and revel in their freedom and the beautiful sights they see around the world.

Beautifully illustrated, the pictures seem to spring to life from the pages. The story teaches of friendship amongst various species, imparts the idea of non-living things becoming animated and alive, and the value of using one’s imagination to transport oneself to other places.

Children will really come to love this story as will the adults who read it to them. The language is lovely, and it would make a good book to help young readers develop their reading skills even further as kids will want to read it and enjoy the pictures again and again. It would be a captivating read for a camping trip under the stars, or even a before bedtime read out on a porch so you could see the sky as you read it, enchanting the child and adult together. Fabulous dreams would be sure to follow!

Speaking as an adult, I read it three times so I could capture the magic of each page in my own memory. I recommend this book to all parents to share with their children, and to anyone who knows a special young reader with imagination that begs to be inspired.