1. Adventure
2. Art techniques
3. Book design
4. Community
5. Cooperation
6. Creativity
7. Domestic life
8. Endpapers
9. Exploration
10. Families
11. History
12. Imagery
13. Newspapers
14. Perspectives
15. Planet Earth
16. Siblings
17. Space
18. Towns and cities

Perth earned its forever title, ‘The City of Light,’ through the remarkable inspiration of two young children. They encouraged the entire city of Perth in Western Australia to celebrate 20 February 1962. On that evening the US astronaut John Glenn was orbiting the earth in a rocket ship, too high and too far away to see a few small lights from Perth down below. But what if an entire town lights up in celebration? The challenge is on! Undaunted, these two children encourage their neighbours, phone their cousins, and inspire the entire town to ‘light up’ as John Glenn travels over Perth.

Two illustration styles feature using graphite pencil and watercolour. One style features highly detailed and realistic domestic scenes of daily life in the 1960s. The second captures the mystery of an astronaut in space. A dark double page spread shows tall buildings with lights in windows. Another dark spread reveals the Perth waterfront in sparkling lights. Will Perth succeed in saying hello to John Glenn as he travels over Perth?

The endpapers feature images of newspapers announcing the space travel of John Glenn and headings from a column hinting that indeed the lights in Perth were seen. John Glenn sends a message confirming success: ‘The lights show up very well and thank everybody for turning them on, will you?’

The illustration styles demand close observation and invite discussion. What was Perth like in the 1960s? Reviewers have pointed out the following appear: clotheslines, outside toilets, a tiny TV with its aerial, girls wearing skirts, old Holden cars and the streets of Perth. The highly detailed images of domestic and family life are juxtaposed against the otherworldly painterly dark scenes of outer space with John Glenn in his astronaut suit.

It is a spine shivering moment that connects people in Perth, Australia with America’s first person in space. A moment never to be forgotten.

1. Remo Giuffré 23 Aug 2023 review of ‘City of Lights’ https://remosince1988.com/blogs/stories/city-of-light
2. Alphabet Soup 8 Mar 2022 interview with Julia Lawrinson https://alphabetsoup.net.au/2023/03/08/julie-lawrinson-on-city-of-light/
3. Reading Time 7 Mar 2023 review by Barbara Swartz of ‘City of Lights’ https://readingtime.com.au/city-of-lights/
4. Kids’ Book Review 28 April 2023 review of ‘City of Lights’ http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2023/04/review-city-of-light.html
5. Wild Dog Teacher Notes for ‘City of Lights’ https://wdog.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/CityOfLight_TN.pdf
6. Scholastic Teaching Notes for ‘City of Lights’ https://resource.scholastic.com.au/ResourceFiles/100124208_108829.pdf
7. ReadPlus 1 Feb 2023 review by Fran Knight of ‘City of Lights’ https://www.readplus.com.au/reviews/the-city-of-light
8. Momo celebrating time to read 28 Oct 2023 review featuring ‘City of Lights’ http://momotimetoread.blogspot.com/2023/10/city-of-light-by-julia-lawrinson.html
9. Julia Lawrinson website 22 Jan 2023 origin of ‘City of Light’ https://julialawrinson.com.au/blog/surprise-its-a-picture-book/
10. YouTube of Senator John Glenn talking about his Friendship 7 space flight plus live film of the flight preparations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGA16MczCrw
11. Elise Ellerman Reading Opens Doors ‘Books to Explore the Past and Present’ https://blog.readingopensdoors.com.au/?p=1795