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The Adventures ofNiko & Lira, home
For grown-ups

For parents and teachers

A Light for Tavi: questions and activities

For reading at home or in the classroom, with children ages 2 to 8. Pick one or two ideas. There’s no need to do them all, and the youngest listeners may just want to look at the pictures.

Before reading

  • Look at the cover together. Who do you see? How do you think they’re feeling?
  • Have you ever helped look after someone smaller than you? What did you do?
  • Every night, one light appears in the sky before all the rest. Have you ever seen the first star?

While reading

When Tavi starts to cry
Why do you think Tavi is crying?
After the glowberries, the diaper and the toy
Niko and Lira keep guessing. What else could they try?
When Lira says, “Let’s watch him instead”
What do you notice Tavi doing? Point to what he’s reaching for.

After reading

  • How did Niko and Lira figure out what Tavi wanted?
  • Why do you think Tavi wanted a pendant like theirs?
  • Niko’s pendant flickers red. How was he feeling? What helped him calm down?
  • If you had a pendant, what color would it be right now?

Share your light, from the book

“Niko and Lira can’t read Tavi’s thoughts. So they slow down, watch and try to understand. That is empathy: trying to understand how someone feels.”

The feelings colors

Every Lumi gets a pendant on their eighth birthday that glows with how they feel. Book One shows the first four; these are all nine.

  • HappyGold
  • SadBlue
  • AngryRed
  • LovePink
  • WorriedViolet
  • CalmTurquoise
  • CuriousGreen
  • SurprisedOrange
  • Holding a grudgeGray

Activities

Watch, don’t guess

Ages 3 and up

  1. A grown-up acts out a feeling or a need without any words: yawning and rubbing their eyes, shivering, or looking all around for something.
  2. The child watches for clues and says what they think you need.
  3. Swap places. Afterward, talk about which clues helped, just like Tavi reaching for the pendants.

Feelings colors

Ages 2 and up

  1. Look at the feelings chart below together. Name each feeling and point to its color.
  2. At bedtime, ask, “What color is your pendant tonight?” and share yours too.
  3. For older children: talk about a time each feeling showed up today.

Make a light

Ages 3 and up, with a grown-up

  1. Draw a smooth, rounded stone on paper and color it with the glow you’d choose.
  2. Cut it out (a grown-up can help) and tape a piece of yarn to the top.
  3. Hang it somewhere special, like a door handle or bedpost.

Safety: Keep string and yarn away from babies and toddlers, and don’t hang anything on a crib.

For a big brother or sister

A new baby at home

  1. Babies can’t tell us what they need, just like Tavi. Ask: “When the baby cries, what do you think she might need?”
  2. Look for clues together: “How can you tell when the baby is happy? Sleepy? Hungry?”
  3. Talk about something only a big brother or sister can do for the baby, like singing a song or making a funny face.

In the classroom

Preschool to 2nd grade

  1. Morning check-in: each child points to the color on the feelings chart that matches how they feel.
  2. Play “Watch, don’t guess” in pairs, with one partner acting and the other looking for clues.
  3. Read the book’s “Share your light” page together and try its idea for tomorrow.

Free to print and share for use at home, in classrooms and in libraries. From The Adventures of Niko and Lira, by Jonathan Seal.

Make a light onlinePlay Pendant Feelings