Gwendolyn and the Light by sales-abramsbooks

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

The illustrations in this book were made using gouache and acrylic paint on vellum finish Bristol.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.

Published in 2024 by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

This

is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

Printed and bound in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Abrams® is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc. For Kelsey Joan —A.H.W. For Sam and Maria —S.Y.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

Abrams Books for Young Readers • New York

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

In a night forest by the sea, the moon had the stars, the trees had the breeze, but Gwendolyn was all alone.

“What’s it like to have a friend?” she asked.

“As bright as all the stars,” said the moon. “As warm as a summer breeze,” said the trees.

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This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

One evening, Gwendolyn awoke early and noticed a light as bright as all the stars, its glow as warm as a summer breeze.

A friend! “Hello!” she said. But the light didn’t stay.

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This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

Maybe I am too small for her to see , she thought.

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“I will go and say hello,” she said. And with a biscuit in tow she rowed out to sea.

Gwendolyn’s heart grew warm to imagine her friend. She gazed up and wondered how many stars she would have to cross to reach the light.

“One,” she counted.

“Two,” she whispered.

“Twee,” said a star . . .

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This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

. . . that was a bird, that landed on her boat, out at sea.

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“You know how to count too?” Gwendolyn asked.

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Gwendolyn didn’t know where the bird wanted to go, and she only had one biscuit to eat. But the bird stayed and counted.

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“Twee!”

“It’s five more stars to go,” said Gwendolyn. “See?”

She leaned over to glimpse the stars braided into the clouds.

“Twee!” said the bird. “Tweeee!”

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This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

Gwendolyn wished for the warmth of the light to comfort her,

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and wondered what the bird wished for.

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“Twee?”

“No, I only have one,” said Gwendolyn, but it didn’t feel right,

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so she broke it in two.

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The bird lifted into the air, and Gwendolyn’s heart lifted too. “Twee, twee, twee!” sang the bird, and Gwendolyn laughed. “One day, I’ll teach you a different number,” she promised.

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Gwendolyn told the bird of the light that was as bright as all the stars, and as warm as a summer breeze.

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“I’m going to go and say hello.”

The bird listened, chattering and purring, and the light felt closer than ever.

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But soon a great storm came, swelling, dipping, crashing, and tumbling.

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And when it passed, the bird was gone. Gwendolyn looked in the places that the bird had hopped and fluttered.

But the bird was not there.

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Then Gwendolyn remembered how the bird loved to count.

“One!” she shouted.

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“Two!” she cried.

But there was no answer. Only the still, dark sea . . .

A trail!

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Gwendolyn hurried. She began to row. She rowed, and rowed, and rowed, until . . .

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This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

“Hello!” she said to the bird. “Twee twee!” the bird answered. And all at once, Gwendolyn’s heart was filled with a joy . . .

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as bright as all the stars, as warm as a summer breeze, as true as a friend who landed on her boat, out at sea.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.

This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.