Cover Image: The Glow Show

The Glow Show

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Member Reviews

A delightful, vibrantly illustrated story about a squid who is introduced to the idea that sometimes it is more fun to share the spotlight than to be in it alone.

I read this story with my 6 year old, who exclaimed that she loved it because of the bright colors and "all the twirls". Our favorite part was reading the fun facts at the end, as she is enormously interested in sea creatures! I think this is a nice and gentle introduction to the idea that working together with your friends can supersede the desire to have All-Eyes-On-You.

We didn't really find Glow to have a "bad attitude" as noted in the description of the book. If it hadn't been for it being written out, I wouldn't have known it was meant to be so negative in the beginning, as it reads much more gently (and more effectively) than the description gives it credit for.

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#TheGlowShow #SusiSchaefer #SourcebooksKids #NetGalley

Little Glow is a bioluminescent squid who knows how to triple-swirl-twirl and the faster he twirls, the brighter he glows!

His friends want to learn how to glow too, but Glow leaves them and goes in search of fans to impress.

This story is about Glow losing his glow and feeling lonely and scared.

Once back with his friends he starts to glow again. When he glows with his friends they transform the deep into the most beautiful place.

This story is about friends who enrich Glow's life and transform his surroundings.

Glow learns the importance of friends and sharing.

The illustrations are vivid and cute.

This will be a great addition to a child's library.

I enjoyed this ARC.

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This was a fun children’s book with a sketch-like art style and important lesson discussed throughout.

This book discusses ego, attention and friendship in an easy to understand way for younger readers, without focussing too heavily on attention on oneself as a negative attribute about oneself. Instead; it discusses how ‘Glowing’ together as a team is a more beneficial and fun experience, displaying social skills as well as emotional intelligence.

Alongside this all important moral lesson, I also felt the squid facts, further explanations regarding themes used as well as “fan or friend” sections in the end do the book reinforced the social lesson whilst also opening up to further discussion and learning using the elements involved.

A super fun social story for young readers!

Thank you, Sourcebooks Kids & NetGalley for the advanced copy!

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Very cute and informative kids book! I love the facts at the end of the book! It gives a unique factor! Also the illustrations were adorable!

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Glow is an adorable story about a bioluminescent squid who twirls showing off his glow to excite his fans. When 3 other squid ask if they can learn to twirl too Glow ignores them and travels out looking for more fans. He soon realizes that the big, undersea world is scary when you are all alone and with the help of the 3 other squid he finds his way home. Learning the value of friends he teaches everyone to glow, sharing his fun and excitement. This is a great book teaching the power of friendship and sharing the spotlight through bright illustrations and an easy to follow plot. Glow is great for any family or classroom.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this children’s book for an honest review. (Publish Date: May 2, 2023)

“The Glow Show” by Susi Schaefer is a creative and fun take on teaching children how to share the spotlight. This underwater adventure follows Glow – a bioluminescent squid who loves to show off his cool dance moves. Glow loves the attention and his friends ask him to teach them how to dance and glow just like him. He doesn’t want to share the spotlight and decides to go solo in search of more fans instead. However, when tragedy strikes, Glow realizes the significance of friendship and humility.

I loved the vibrant illustrations and the wonderful message this story conveys! I think this book will be a favorite for many children because it’s relatable, fun to read, and what isn’t cool about a bioluminescent squid?! I would highly recommend it and plan to purchase this book as gifts to the younger children in my family.

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The illustrations for this book were beautiful. I enjoyed the redundancy/pattern of the characters and events. The explanations of why the main character could glow was nicely done. There are many books about not leaving friends behind, and I enjoy sharing these stories with my kids, but this one took on a bit of a different form with discussions of sharing the spotlight. It reminded me of the third Cars movie, which I appreciated, because discovering we all have something unique to offer is important. Very cute book! I will get it for my children when it comes out.

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The Glow Show is an absolutely beautiful picture book with stunning artwork and a wonderful story about “sharing your glow”. I thought this book explained everything perfectly for a child to understand and will keep every reader’s attention with the story and illustrations. I loved the message and find it an important story to share with children to help them navigate some social challenges. I highly recommend this picture book and loved the extra sea life definitions at the end!

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The Glow Show would be a very good addition to my kindergarten classroom. It is very colorful and entertaining. It also has a good message and will leave them with a great lesson to take away from the book.

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Glow wants to show off to a new crowd and in the process, loses his glow. When he returns, his fans have moved on but his friends are still true. This book was a really sweet story about the importance of friends over fans. The illustrations were vibrant and eye-catching. The text made for a lovely read-aloud and I really enjoyed the back matter as well.

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I absolutely loved this book! It reads like a modern take on The Rainbow Fish. Not only were the colors bright and beautiful, the words were laid out in a very readable way. I loved the inclusion of big vocabulary words like navigate, bioluminescence and transform. The added facts at the end were definitely a nice touch. I LOVED the story and thought it was an easily digestible lesson for primary students. I will definitely be adding this to my kindergarten library.

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The Glow Show was an adorable book about a squid who loves to shine bright and be the center of attention. We get to learn what the word "Bioluminscent" means. As well as some other awesome facts that were at the end of the book. I love that the author added real facts at the end.

My 3 year old daughter LOVED this book she had me read it a few times to her. The colors and illustrations were really fun!

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The Glow Show was a cute concept, but it felt underdeveloped and shallow. I get what the author is trying to do-encourage healthy and mutual friendships that go deeper than surface level-but there is a lot to flesh out here in terms of the plot and execution. In my copy, there seem to be some editing needed to take out redundant pages and the storytelling and dialogue were very sparse. I thought the illustrations and color palette were really eye-catching and the characters were adorable. But they really need more depth for kids to relate to their story and then be able to have a conversation about connecting the lesson of friendship to their own lives. High hopes, just needs so more finessing!

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Super cute! My daughter loved it. Beautifully illustrated and kept her attention. Perfect book for every library and teachers classroom.

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This is a TWIRL of a tale!! The illustrations are colorful and beautiful, and kids will have a great time reading this book. The message this book conveys is very important during these times and teaches kids that everyone is unique in their own way which makes everyone important!!

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I think the book is beautiful and I like the story I think this book is best read to a child and talk about it. The facts at the back is a great idea it make the story more educational. In makes me want to read more about it.

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Thank you Sourcebook Kids and NetGalley for the ARC of The Glow Show!

Our squid friend has some pretty great talent and loves to be the star of the show, leaving their friends in their shadow.

There are a few lessons that can be taken away from this story including never taking your friends or family for granted, be sure to know where you're going so you don't get lost, and everything is better with people you love.

The art is adorable and the book is a quick, simple, and enjoyable read that includes many cool facts about squids.

I read this to my six year old and her favorite part was the beauty of the squids glow. She gives it a 10/10!

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Holy moly - I LOVED this book! Make this a series!
I adore the 'fan or friend' part at the end! The illustrations are seriously so lovely and the message is so beautiful!

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The Glow Show by Susi Schaefer is an adorable picture book that not only have beautiful illustrations but also a great message. This book follows Glow, a squid who is bioluminescent, a talent he loves to show off to all of his fans. All of his friends want to know if they can learn too, however, it isn't until Glow finds himself in the Shallows, where he doesn't glow, that he starts to realize that maybe there is a difference between fan and friends. I absolutely love the sweet message about not only sharing the spotlight but also sharing our own unique talents to make everyone stronger. In addition there are great facts at the end of the book to teach students about ocean life, bioluminescence, and fans vs friends. This is one of my favorite aspects of books like this. The merging of fiction and nonfiction leads to not only great SEL conversations but also conversations about a variety of different nonfiction topics. Overall, I cannot wait to get a physical copy of this book and see just how cute the illustrations are in person. It is a definite buy for my libraries!

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I would love to add this to my classroom library! However, it was not my favorite children's book! There so many different messages happening! Maybe try sticking to one specific lesson overall.

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