The Lantern Who Was Afraid of the Dark
A picture book exploring Overcoming Fear, Courage, Finding Your Light.
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What’s inside
Page count
11 pages
Age range
Ages 3–7
Read-aloud time
~4 min
Values taught
Being brave doesn't mean you stop being scared — it means you're scared and you go anyway, and it's easier together.
Three sample pages
Amazing Me — Volume 2: Stories 16–30
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In a cozy village at the edge of a forest, every lantern has one important job: when darkness covers the streets, they light up the night so no one has to be afraid. But the newest, smallest lantern — Wick — has a secret he's ashamed of: he is terrified of the dark, the very thing he was made to shine in. So every night, Wick hides behind a flowerpot on the windowsill, hoping no one will need him. Then one evening, a little girl named Elena reaches for the brightest lantern on the shelf and her hand lands on the little one hiding behind the flowerpot. She needs light to walk to her grandmother's house — and instead of laughing, she sits down beside Wick and shares her own secret: she's scared of the dark too, but tonight she still has to walk through it. 'Being brave doesn't mean you stop being scared,' Elena tells him. 'It means you're scared and you go anyway. And it's easier when you do it together.' One flickering step at a time, the smallest lantern and the scared girl walk into the night — together.
- Lantern — a little light you can carry into the dark
- Terrified — very, very scared
- Ashamed — feeling bad about yourself for something
- Flicker — to shine unsteadily, on and off
- Bravery — going ahead, even while scared
- Together — with someone beside you, which makes braveness easier
- Tremble — to shake a little, like a small flame
- Path — the way you walk from here to there
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What Parents Say
Families sharing their experiences with our books and family safety tools.
After reading this, my daughter started asking about how lighthouses work and we ended up looking up videos together. Anything that gets her that curious is a win in my book.
The rhythm of this book is so soothing. It's become our Sunday-morning read. The river metaphor opened up a real conversation about listening to nature with my kids.
A beautiful, quiet story. On high-energy days my 6-year-old can't sit through it, but on calm evenings it's perfect. The language is genuinely lovely.
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