MAKING LIGHT BLOOM: CLARA DRISCOLL AND THE TIFFANY LAMPS, by Sandra Nickel and Julie Paschkis, Peachtree, June 24, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 4-8)
Discover the woman behind the world’s most iconic lamps in Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps, by Sandra Nickel and Julie Paschkis.
Drawing inspiration from her childhood gardens, Clara Driscoll created designs for Louis C. Tiffany’s stained glass windows. Clara had such a flare for glass that Tiffany put her in charge of a special workroom, staffed with women—called the Tiffany Girls. But Clara wanted more. She wanted to create a three-dimensional work that would make light bloom. So, she figured out how to engineer a lamp—how to shape and bend glass and light it so that her designs sprung to colorful, vivid life.
Today, we all recognize Tiffany lamps, but we almost forgot the woman who created them. Extensive back matter features more information about Clara Driscoll, her letters, and her design and manufacturing process, as well as bibliography and sources. —Synopsis provided by Peachtree
Making Light Bloom is one of the picture books I’ve most looked forward to this year. From its embossed cover to its engaging content, the entire book is fabulous.
Author Sandra Nickel takes Clara’s own letters, among other sources, and crafts a biography that captures your imagination and inspires you to look at nature in different ways. Nickel’s warm text is inviting for young audiences and resonates with older readers.
Artist Julie Paschkis’ stunning illustrations pay homage to Clara’s own stained-glass work. Her use of light almost feels as if you’re holding the book up to the window and watching the light shining through.
Making Light Bloom is a lovely picture book biography that will call to many a reader. It’s fun on its own and would be so much fun to tie into art projects at home or school.
About the creators:
Sandra Nickel is an award-winning author of picture books and has two new books coming out in Spring 2025: Seven, A Most Remarkable Pigeon, an uplifting tale that celebrates differences, and Making Light Bloom, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps, where Sandra continues her mission to celebrate extraordinary individuals who have been nearly forgotten by history.
Sandra holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and has presented workshops throughout Europe and the United States. She is honored to be the winner of a Christopher Award, the winner of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Crystal Kite Award, a finalist for the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for Younger Readers, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection honoree, and a Charlotte Huck Award Recommended author. To learn more about Sandra, and to download free curriculum materials and activity sheets, visit sandranickel.com.
Julie Paschkis is an award-winning illustrator of more than 25 books for children. A graduate of Cornell University and the School for American Craftsmen at RIT, she taught art to grade school children for a number of years before turning her full attention to painting, textile design, and creating illustrations for her books.
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