Riding on a Beam of Light by Ramsey Dean

Title: Riding on a Beam of Light
Author: Ramsey Dean
Illustrator: Noah Hamdan
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Length: 26 pages

This review is part of a blog tour running from June 15 to July 5. To read more blog posts in this tour, check out the tour page.

Albert (a young Albert Einstein) likes to dream, both while awake and while asleep. One night, his mother turns his light out, and he suddenly realises that light travels. This sparks his imagination, and soon he's thinking about the places he could travel riding on a beam of light.

Albert displays the curiosity that's so wonderful in children. He notices something, and instantly wants to know "why". So, since his mom doesn't have answers for him, his imagination fills in the gaps, and the result is a great adventure. I really like how the story is based on the actual childhood imaginings of Einstein that led him to develop his theory of relativity.

I don't quite get how he figured out that light travels, though; it seemed like he could see the light moving away into the night when his lamp was turned off, which is of course impossible. Also, the rhyming felt a bit forced at times, as is too often the case in children's books.

The illustrations in this book are fun and full of life. The wide-eyed Albert really shows his childlike curiosity.

3 stars.