Review: Every Scoop of Light
Every Scoop of Light: A Story About Repairing the World
by Ilene Cooper, illustrated by Omer Hoffmann
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2025
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Julie Ditton
Ilene Cooper brings children a new book just as fantastic as her 2007 picture book, The Golden Rule.
This charming book retells the midrash of how God decided to give humans wonderful gifts such as happiness, health, wisdom, kindness, love, laughter, imagination, celebration and peace. But the vessels shattered, leaving people to find and gather the sparks. Cooper tells the tale in a simple manner that kids can understand. She even includes people that question God, asking why God needs our help. Others ask why they should do the hard work of gathering sparks. Why doesn't God do it? God replies that it is people's world and they should have the responsibility to help make it a better place.
This charming book retells the midrash of how God decided to give humans wonderful gifts such as happiness, health, wisdom, kindness, love, laughter, imagination, celebration and peace. But the vessels shattered, leaving people to find and gather the sparks. Cooper tells the tale in a simple manner that kids can understand. She even includes people that question God, asking why God needs our help. Others ask why they should do the hard work of gathering sparks. Why doesn't God do it? God replies that it is people's world and they should have the responsibility to help make it a better place.
Omer Hoffmann's colorful illustrations include people of various races and a variety of ancient cultures. As he says in the endnote, he wanted to make sure that the book was inclusive and that everyone could see their own people in the story. My favorite part of the pictures are the whimsical drawings of the various gifts, who are personified blobs of color. These cartoon blessings are fun and colorful and will appeal to even the youngest children. This book is a lovely way to teach children the importance of sharing kindnesses big and small.
This is a retelling of a 16th century parable. Today, the allegory has been expanded into a practice known by Jews as Tikkun Olam, which translates as “repair the world,” but the ideal to make the world a better place is a universal concept that reaches across the world and many religions.
This is a retelling of a 16th century parable. Today, the allegory has been expanded into a practice known by Jews as Tikkun Olam, which translates as “repair the world,” but the ideal to make the world a better place is a universal concept that reaches across the world and many religions.
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Reviewer Julie Ditton, The Storybook Lady, is an active reviewer on social media and on her new book blog storybooklady.net which has featured interviews of several Jewish children’s authors. She reviews a variety of genre, although, as her name would imply, her favorite genre is Children’s Literature. About half of the children’s books that she reviews have Jewish themes. She even has a dedicated shelf on Goodreads, Bubbe’s Bookshelf specifically for Jewish Children’s Books and is an active contributor to the Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook group.
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