A Spark in the Dark
by Pam Fong ; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary       G     reenwillow    32 pp.       g
10/22     978-0-06313-653-3     $17.99

On one level, this is the story of a little orange fish who swims too far down into the inky blackness of the ocean, becomes lost and disoriented but perseveres, and eventually makes it back up to the “warm and welcoming” sunlight zone. Below the surface, though, the second-person text is a comforting meditation on coping with adversity and not giving in to despair. A girl on a fishing boat drops pieces of bread into the water, which from her sun-drenched perspective looks dark. To the group of little fish attracted to the bread, however, the water is saturated with light. One fish chases after an elusive piece of bread, down, down, down, until: “The dark creeps up and surrounds you. And before you know it…there is only dark.” Fong’s watercolor-like, digitally compiled illustrations perfectly capture the ocean’s different moods, from the promising early-morning scenes above the water to the intimidating, shadowy ocean depths. Bioluminescent creatures glowing eerily in the bluish-black waters offer false hope (e.g., an anglerfish’s lure); the narrator urges “you” to “keep searching.” If the message is familiar, it’s worth repeating: “Sometimes you need the dark…to see the light.” Fong avoids sinking the story with platitudes by keeping the concept simple, giving the protagonist lots of personality, and imbuing the atmospheric illustrations with tension and emotion. The immensely satisfying ending comes full circle, back above the water under a star-filled sky.

From the November/December 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.