We Carry the Sun
Review posted August 25, 2026.
Norton Young Readers, 2025. 48 pages.
Review written 2/6/26 from a library book.
Starred Review
This is a nonfiction picture book about the history of solar power. The illustrations are lavishly beautiful, and I like the way the author addresses the reader as we - talking about humankind's collective efforts to harness the power of the sun.
And I had no idea the long history and the wide scope of efforts to produce solar power. She mentions ancient peoples who built their homes to be cooler in summer and warmer in winter. And then goes on to the people who figured out how to make solar panels - and the many people after them who kept refining the design.
It's a story of people working across the globe, using ideas of others, improving on them, for the good of all. Tae Keller and Rachel Wada capture this idea in their "We"-centered text and stunning illustrations.
There's a timeline at the back that gives more information about the specific scientists featured. Especially interesting are recent developments - including a scientist in Mexico who makes biodegradable solar panels and scientists in Korea, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore working with perovskite solar panels which are transparent and can be used in place of glass.
All sorts of fascinating information here - told in a way children can understand - and be inspired to wonder what they might do to add to the progression of science improving our lives.
Here's the last page of the main text:
How does an idea grow?
With people bouncing off one another
like photons,
teaching and inspiring,
listening and learning.
Across the world,
we turn to one another and say,We are incredible.
Look at all we can do.
We reached into the sky
and carried the sun home --and what if we could do even more?