One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, "Mommm!"" His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can't work on her computer, and Dad can't finish cooking dinner. What's a family to do? When they go up to the roof to escape the heat, they find the lights--in stars that can be seen for a change--and so many neighbors it's like a block party in the sky! On the street below, people are having just as much fun--talking, rollerblading, and eating ice cream before it melts. The boy and his family enjoy being not so busy for once. They even have time to play a board game together. When the electricity is restored, everything can go back to normal . . . but not everyone likes normal. The boy switches off the lights, and out comes the board game again. Using a combination of panels and full bleed illustrations that move from color to black-and-white and back to color, John Rocco shows that if we are willing to put our cares aside for a while, there is party potential in a summer blackout."

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the Primary School category by the Golden Archer Award. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Young Hoosier Book Award. It also was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Georgia Children's Book Award. It was recognised in the Primary School category by the Golden Sower Award. Also it was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Nevada Young Readers' Award. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the North Carolina Children's Book Award. It was recognised by the Caldecott Award. The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. It was recognised in the Ages 0-7 Years category by the Capitol Choices Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens. It was recognised by the Texas Reading List. It was recognised in the Fiction Picture Book category by the Cybils Award. The Cybils Awards is a group of readers passionate about seeking out and recognizing books that represent diversity, inclusion, and appropriate representation for children and teens. To accomplish that goal, the Cybils Awards works to recognize books written for children and young adults that combine both the highest literary merit and popular appeal.

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

This book has been graded for interest at 4-7 years.

There are 40 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2011 by Hyperion .

This is her first book for children. John Rocco is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many award-winning books for children, including the Caldecott Honor-winning picture book Blackout. He is also the illustrator for the internationally bestselling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. His most recent titles include the fully illustrated version of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton . John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, daughter, two wild cats, and one very rambunctious dog named Lucy.