On a Beam of Light

On a Beam of Light had me at the first flip through: Albert Einstein made accessible to early elementary ages through whimsical illustration and simple, yet appealing, text. What a novel concept!

On a Beam of Light starts with Albert's early childhood, his lack of early speech, through his hardships in school (skips over his flee from Nazis in WWII), then moves through his adult life and accomplishments. Actually, the book doesn't over-emphasize any specific accomplishments, which wouldn't mean much to a 6-year-old anyway. Einstein's theory of relativity is better left for middle-to-high schoolers. Instead, On a Beam of Light focuses on Albert's innate curiosity and penchant for pondering the mysteries of the natural world. It explains his captivation with magnetism, light, and gravity and delves slightly deeper into his discovery of atoms, but never rises above what could be easily understood and enjoyed by younger students.

The illustrations are equally as appealing as the text. Wispy sketching and broad strokes of color bring an air of light and flighty thinking and are the perfect accompanying illustration to this text.

You can find On a Beam of Light in the Picture Books - Nonfiction section of The Book Children Store