Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born/What They Became

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet aren't just the colors of the rainbow anymore! 

Spoiler Alert: (They've decided to take a spiritual journey.) 

In this highly imaginative, read-aloud book, they are the brave protagonists who follow their desires from the great beyond. With a giant leap of faith, the seven energized orbs launch themselves into the great adventure

 of becoming real. Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became is a light-hearted creation myth for the New Age. With 40-fully illustrated pages and insightful storytelling, this tale is sure to delight 

children and adults alike. Join the colorful characters on their magical trek and be 

surprised by what they become!

Desire is very real...

and in this book, it's even a character.

Children are pretty clear about what they like and don't like. Not long after they learn to talk, they find their voice and use it, often relentlessly,  to make their desires known. This really is a wonderful thing. It's the life force inside of them wanting to survive and thrive. Perhaps it's time to give Desire its rightful place on the list of things we want our children to value and learn to use?  

With that in mind, Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became not only makes Desire one of its recurring themes, but also gives it an upgrade and makes the concept a character. What kind of character? 

Well, just like Desire the concept, Sharp Desire the character, is persuasive! It's constantly inspiring the other characters to expand their experience and to reach for more. Like the realities of Time and Change, Desire is not going away. It has to be dealt with and understood for what it is, a very powerful force.

Life, Death, Eternity and Friendship

Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became is about the journey, and suggests that life is a spiritual one. Is that too much for children to ponder? Consider that children ask a lot of questions. Often their little lines of inquiry are about some not-so-little topics, and reveal how intently they are observing nature, people and processes. Taking its cue from their questions, Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became offers some playful perspectives on ideas like life, death and eternity, and takes a new look at feelings and emotions, friendships of the heart, connections of the soul, passionate desires, and the restorative power of nature. It suggests to children that their happiness is very important and pretty much up to them.

Stay Safe and Stay Tuned

Once bookstores, libraries and schools re-open, this is where you'll  find my upcoming book signing and readings. In the meantime, stay safe and stay tuned.

PUBLISHED REVIEWS   

Kirkus Reviews:                           

"Seven circles of light explore mortality in this spiritual picture book.

In a fairy-tale–like opening, the Brightest Light lives alone, content, in the Big Quiet. But “one day, a Sharp Desire came…and changed everything.” The Brightest Light, looking like a soft white ball surrounded by darkness, encounters a prism that refracts light into colors. Now, the Brightest Light and seven balls of color live happily until the colors encounter a desire for more. The colors leave the Big Quiet for a world like Earth, becoming plants, animals, forces of nature, and humans. Violet and Red turn into lonely human girls who find each other and become friends, experiencing the strange feeling that they’ve met before. Eventually, the colors realize the time is coming to leave their incarnations and return to the Brightest Light, once again content until the desire for change resurfaces. Lucas does an impressive job of making this philosophical theme feel approachable and grounded. The author’s images vary in style. One resembles a doodle in a digital paint program while the images on the Earth-like world are more detailed cartoon illustrations with full backgrounds and a diverse human cast. Her handling of time passing in a panel-packed page seems natural, and the hints at death feel merely part of a cycle rather than sad.

An engaging conversation starter for parents and children about growth, change, death, and life."—Kirkus Reviews

Readers' Favorite:

"Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became is a children’s concept picture book written and illustrated by Maryann Lucas. Until that sharp desire sparked and woke up the Brightest Light, it needed and wanted nothing more than to exist in the Big Quiet. That desire changed everything. Brightest Light felt unfulfilled until its need manifested as the Seven Circles of Light. The Circles were happy to live with Brightest Light until, one day, that sharp desire returned, and each circle became distinct and different, but they all felt the need to leave the Big Quiet, and off they went.

Maryann Lucas’s Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became is a marvelous way to introduce children to color theory and how colors are all contained in white light. Her story goes further in assigning personality and physical form to each color and bringing them all together in a park on planet Earth. There’s also a marvelous creation legend that expands from the one Brightest Light into the Seven Circles, which then contracts again in an endless cycle. Lucas gives children and caregivers alike much to think about and explore in this thought-provoking and decidedly different children’s picture book. Lucas’s artwork fleshes out the details beautifully, making this story as vibrant and rich as the Seven Circles when they first appear and begin to flourish. Seven Circles of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became is most highly recommended."—Readers' Favorite

Taking Artistic License with Science

All the colors in the spectrum, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet are born from White Light. Each color has its own unique wavelength, and all can be refracted back into White Light. Isaac Newton made this discovery in 1672. Seven Circle of Light: How They Were Born and What They Became  begins with this  scientific understanding and then adds a dash of imagination to create a story that supposes the reason why everything is all connected.