I am not sure if I liked this story about Ella and her friends, but I also am not sure if I disliked it. Ella’s Night Lights has an atmosphere that is both hopeful and somber. There is a delightful story of friendship, yet there is a sadness about the that Ella is a fragile creature. There is a lot going on in a few pages. It is then up to the reader to decide what they feel about the book without others telling them. All our likes, dislikes and biases will color how we like (or not like) Ella’s tale. However, the illustrations done by Lucy Fleming (who is also our author) are out of this world amazing. I would frame these images. They capture both that hopeful and somberness to it. The detail and colors are stories within themselves.
The plot is how we follow Ella, a moth-like-fairy being, who can only go out at night as her wings are too fragile for the sun. Therefore, all her wonderful good deeds for her friends and the creatures of the forest happen at night. Yet, she has a wish for herself. As a thank you, her friends try and help her find a way to fulfill her dream of seeing the sun.
As you can see, this is a perfectly lovely story. There is nothing wrong with it. The feeling I got was an old-world fairytale with a modern twist. The text has an almost translated feeling from a Scandinavian culture, but also has western traits. It is a book that everyone will read differently and take from it what they put into it. I do highly recommend it, but I am not sure I will be giving this a second read.
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