Who Left the Light On?
From French author-illustrator duo Richard Marnier and Aude Maurel comes a captivating picture book about creativity, diversity, and self-expression.
This is my town,
simple and typical.
Each house has a door,
two windows, a red roof
—all so predictable
But then one night… someone leaves on their light!
And in the morning, what a shock!
The shutters are sealed tight!
Who is that who lives next door?
We’ve never seen anything like this before!
In a town where everyone follows the rules, one neighbor’s decision to leave the light on at night completely disrupts the neighborhood, sparking a creative revolution. Vibrant, poetic, and fun, Who Left the Light On? playfully teaches the powerful lesson that diversity, creativity, and individuality should be celebrated.
A former student of visual arts, Richard Marnier is a writer and an artist. In his work, he mixes sculptures, drawings, and design with the conventions of writing and visual arts. Adept at children’s stories, he has published several books with the Seuil Jeunesse publisher, Les P’tits Bérets Édition, Frimousse Edition, and Edition du Rouergue.
A former student of the prestigious Ecole des Arts Appliqués and the Ecoles des Arts Décoratifs of Strasbourg, Aude Maurel has collaborated with Franco-German TV channel Arte. From animated film to still images and illustrations, she now creates her own children books, sometimes collaborating with her partner, author Richard Marnier. Aude likes to assemble words together, end to end, turning them into necklaces. She has thousands of stories to tell, some of which will become illustrated books.
Emma Ramadan is a literary translator based in Providence, RI, where she will soon be opening Riffraff, a bookstore and bar. She is the recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship, a PEN/Heim grant, and a Fulbright scholarship.
