Anderson County author shares book ‘Night Light’
A Rocky Top author’s picture book looks at what it’s like for nighttime animals who are afraid of light.
Rebecca Lehman read her book “Night Light” at the Clinton Public Library on the evening of Friday, Feb. 6, as children gathered to hear.
PJ Storytime is a monthly event at the Clinton library. However, it is rare that children get to hear authors read their own books.
Lehman told The Courier News the premise of the book was to “flip the script a bit” for children afraid of the dark.
The idea came from her husband and co-author William Lehman.
Animals included in the book include fireflies, a tree frog, an opossum, an owl and more.
“Nighttime serves its purpose,” she said. “It’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just different.”
Lehman said her time in foster care inspired her to write children’s books.
“Any time that you are moved around, you’re not warned,” she said of her time before her adoption at age 6. “All you can do is grab whatever it is that you can carry.”
And for her, that meant grabbing books. But even after her adoption,- she loved books as an escape.
“We want to be a light, and I want to bring hope,” she said, regarding the role she wants to play as an author for the children who find her books. “Even in the darkest times, you yourself will still be a light to those finding their way.”
This book is her first, but she hopes to write more. She said she appreciated connecting with children and families, including adopted children with stories similar to her own while promoting the book.
“We read to know we’re not alone,” she said. “It’s meant to be read together. It’s meant to bring connection.”
She wrote “Night Light” as a poem and wanted it to resemble a song. She said it was fitting as a book to share at bedtime.
“It brings out this idea of peace, and that’s really the purpose of it all for me,” she said.
She said people mistakenly believed that children’s books were easy to write because they are short and use simple words. However, she said those same aspects made writing her book more challenging.
“I can only say it in four stanzas,” she said, adding that “trying to sum up a bigger idea into something smaller that actually conveys that message” was a challenge.
Another challenge, she said, was finding a publisher and an illustrator. But eventually she found Line by Lion Publications and Kentucky-based illustrator Thomas Lamkin.
She said the important part of finding an illustrator was finding someone who was enthusiastic and didn’t just see it as a paycheck.
“You want to find someone that’s like ‘Wow,’ I love that story too and I want to draw it,” she said.
Lehman has lived in many other places but considers her current home in Anderson County her favorite.
“I don’t call where I grew up home anymore,” she said. “This is home.”
Rebecca and William Lehman also run the Aelhaus woodworking business out of their home.
