Module 7: On A Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein

Summary

This juvenile picture book biography about Albert Einstein highlights his life as an inquisitive, thoughtful child. His imagination helps him make some of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time, such as the nature of atoms and the properties of light through his observation of the movement of everything in life. Einstein looked at time and space as nobody had ever looked at them before. He watched and noticed things happen in life and started to figure out the reason behind sugar dissolving in tea and smoke swirling into air. As he aged, people finally recognized the genius in Albert Einstein, despite his eccentricities.

Reference

Berne, J. (2013). On a beam of light: A story of Albert Einstein. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

My Impressions

The author has created a fictionalized biography with this book. The relaxed tone makes it easy for young readers to understand and stay engaged. The textured neutral color of the pages adds warmth and depth to the drawing style which is very expressive and stylistic. This unique approach is appealing. The final two pages of Author’s Notes and background information provide more information and a greater depth about the book’s content and facts. One paragraph explains Einstein’s involvement with the atomic bomb. This picture book biography’s text takes confusing scientific concepts and makes them easier to understand for readers who do not know a lot about Albert Einstein and his theories. The quirky but beautiful illustrations add to the text and are representative of Albert Einstein’s quirky but brilliant personality. The main positive quality that stands out as being most beneficial to Einstein is his imagination. This book attributes his imagination for changing the way we think about the world. Einstein’s ideas about light are what make today’s solar panels work. This idea also won Einstein the Nobel Prize in 1922.

Professional Review

A boy who asked too many questions becomes iconic physicist Albert Einstein, whose questions changed the world.

The author of Manfish (illustrated by Eric Puybaret, 2008) presents another dreamer, a man who “asked questions never asked before. / Found answers never found before. / And dreamed up ideas never dreamt before.” Story and perfectly matched illustrations begin with the small boy who talked late, watched and thought, and imagined traveling through space on a light beam. Readers see the curious child growing into the man who constantly read and learned and wondered. With gouache, pen and ink, Radunsky’s humorous, childlike drawings convey Einstein’s personality as well as the important ideas in the text (which are set out in red letters). The narrative text includes several of Einstein’s big ideas about time and space; one illustration and the back endpapers include the famous formula. The mottled, textured paper of each page reinforces the concept that everything is made of atoms. A nice touch at the end shows children who might also wonder, think and imagine dressed in the professor’s plaid suit. An author’s note adds a little more about the person and the scientist.

For today’s curious children, this intriguing and accessible blend of words and pictures will provide a splendid introduction to a man who never stopped questioning. (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

On a beam of light [Review of the book On a beam of light: A story of Albert Einstein]. (2013, March 13). Kirkus Reviews Issue. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jennifer-berne/beam-light/

Library Uses

This book could be part of a “Read Around the Library” non-fiction activity where students pick one book to read from each of the Dewey Decimal classes. For example, this book would be found in Class 900 (history & geography), specifically 921 for biographies about famous people.