Lewis, E.B. This Little Light of Mine. New York : Simon and Schuster Books, 2005This Little Light of Mine is an illustrative companion to the popular Negro spiritual. The book features a young Black male traveling through what appears to be a small southern town and letting his light shine throughout his journey. He shines his light on others by helping an elderly woman with her groceries, hugging his grandmother, and by introducing a lonely boy to his friends.
The book is a great illustrative representation of what it means to let your light shine. As popular and meaningful as the song is to the Black community, E.B. Lewis does a great job of figuratively and literally painting pictures to reflect the impact and meaning of the songs' lyrics. Another feature of the book I really enjoyed was the use of African American Vernacular English or AAVE. It is nice but rare to see AAVE used in books even though it accurately reflects how most children pronounce words. Words such as "E'vrywhere" (Everywhere) and "Gonna" (going to) are examples of AAVE that are present in the book. Overall, I believe this is a picture book that is a great compliment to a historical Hymn.
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