Review
Title: Let Your Light Shine
Author: Bonnie H. Cordon
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Genre: Children’s picture book
Year Published: 2022
Number of Pages: 30
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-63993-063-0
Price: $18.99 USD
Reviewed by Danielle Withers for the Association of Mormon Letters
Let Your Light Shine is a cute children’s story about a young girl, Bonnie, who is so excited to meet and have her family host Elder Perry who is an Apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sadly, she is so excited to meet him and hear his stories that she forgets to feed the chickens and must do it at night. However, she learns a valuable lesson.
I enjoyed the message of this story and how a kid could easily relate to being so excited for something to happen and forgetting to do their chores. The illustrations were beautiful! I loved how realistic they were compared to many of the children’s books I’ve read that have more cartoonish-like illustrations. I especially enjoyed how the illustrations directly related to the part of the story being referenced and how the emotions, such as excitement and fear, were expressed.
There is a dust jacket on the book, which is usually flimsy in nature and will probably not last very long with kids who might be rough with books. However, the hardback book quality itself is very sturdy.
This book seems to be targeted at children. Therefore, I read this to my niece (seven-years-old) and nephew (one-year-old). My nephew didn’t understand the story but was enthralled with the colors of the illustrations; his eyes were wide, and you could tell he was entranced. My niece on the other hand not only loved the illustrations but enjoyed the story as well. She understood and could relate to having to do her chores later in the evening if she didn’t finish them earlier in the day. I would say this book is not just for children but for all age groups because of the lesson Bonnie learns. However, this book intrigued my one-year-old nephew with the illustrations and my seven-year-old niece with both. Therefore, I would recommend this book to anyone wanting an adorable children’s book that they can read with the children in their lives and enjoy the story with them.