City of Light by Julia Lawrinson illustrated by Heather Potter and Mark Jackson

On February 20, 1962, more than 10 months after Russia sent the first man into space and after 10 aborted attempts at lift-off, Lt-Col Glenn was squeezed inside the Friendship 7 capsule and blasted into orbit. Bill King, a journalist atThe West Australian, was looking for a local angle on the story and suggested Perth residents leave their lights on to see if the city would be visible from space.

Have you read My Place in Space (an old book from 1992)? City of Light begins with the same idea - 

"Here we are. In the place where we live. A city called Perth. Western Australia. The World. The universe."

The two children really want the astronaut to see them, but mum explains "We're too far away. We're too small." Luckily these two children are problem solvers. They are sure their hero in space will see them if they create something BIG. 

"All over our city. All the lights are shining bright."

My friend has an utterly wonderful and comprehensive collection of Picture Book Biographies. I was tasked with finding some specific titles last week and so I took the opportunity to borrow a few for myself one of which was this very new book City of Light. This book is beautifully presented and covers an event that was completely new to me but unfortunately the book designer did not include a page or two of back matter so I had to do a little of my own research but so far, I cannot find any details about these two children - the city was indeed lit up, but I think this was an idea from a newspaper reporter. 

February 20th, 1962 is a date that is significant for those interested in space exploration, for it was the day that astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in a space capsule named Friendship 7. ... John Glenn’s flight was notable for Perth in particular as the population, in empathy with feelings of isolation and distance from home of the space traveler, turned on their lights to provide a welcome light which Glenn commented on during his first orbit as he was being tracked by Muchea. This symbolic event has become a highlight in Perth’s history, earning the city the name “City of Light.

From the author web page: City of Light tells the true story of how two children from Perth captured the imagination of the residents of their city, with the idea to leave their lights on so that astronaut John Glenn could see Perth from space, during his first human orbit of Earth on 20 February 1962. And so, it’s a heartening story of community collaboration during a time of fascination with early advances in outer space travel.

Here is a set of very comprehensive teachers notes with lots of web links to explore. Here is an interview with Julia Lawrinson and Alphabet Soup. Here is the Kids' Book Review. This book will fit really well into many class topics - Life in the past; Space Exploration; and any science unit about light. 

I am sure we will see this book listed as a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Eve Pownall notable and perhaps even as a short-listed title.