GATHERING THE LIGHT

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo (Mvskoke Nation) and Anishinaabe illustrator Pawis-Steckley shine light on the continuous cycles of life and nature.

Telling folks to touch grass can sound rude; next time, suggest they gather the light instead. Through a series of guiding commands—“stop and listen,” “breathe and let go”—an unseen narrator entreats a child “to greet the day, / To respect, to honor” it and to appreciate celestial light “as it feeds and inspires all the beings of Earth.” Over the course of a day, a brown-skinned, long-haired child encounters countless new opportunities for interconnection, gently registering daily gratitudes before evening’s peaceful closure. Luminous full-bleed digital illustrations emphasize light’s shifting interaction with nature, dawn’s rays shining through bare branches, dappled spots popping through deep woods midday, and that particular hazy brightness that brings forth rainbows in an afternoon storm shower. Harjo riffs on the title of her adult biography Catching the Light (2022); the judicious and lyrical qualities of her verse will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with her work. Pair with Bruce Handy and Lisk Feng’s wondrous There Was a Shadow (2024) to build on the day-to-dusk concept, or with Julie Flett’s Birdsong (2019) to continue celebrating relationships between people and our natural world.

Illuminating.