A child’s idea of a hero often begins with capes and impossible powers. The Seven Lights of Jamaica begins somewhere more lasting: with a young girl named Glory asking what makes someone a real hero.

Written and created by Jamaican-born author Fernando Edwards, the 50-page children’s book sends Glory on a journey through Jamaica’s history. Guided by her grandmother and a glowing Story Map, she encounters the nation’s seven National Heroes and learns that heroism can look like courage, sacrifice, leadership and service.

The story introduces Nanny of the Maroons, Samuel Sharpe, George William Gordon, Paul Bogle, Marcus Garvey, Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante through scenes designed for readers ages 6 to 10. Rather than treating the heroes as names to memorize, it asks children to understand the choices they made and the values those choices carried.

At the heart of the book is the relationship between Glory and her grandmother. Their journey makes history feel inherited and personal: knowledge travels from one generation to the next, then becomes something a child can use in her own life.

The book is also the younger half of a wider Jamroc Dept vision. While adults can wear the National Heroes story through the brand’s three streetwear capsules, children can read it through Glory’s journey. Both are held together by the same call: Carry the Story Forward.

Published September 30, 2026, The Seven Lights of Jamaica is now available through Amazon, Walmart.com, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks and Wordery in the UK. Its message reaches beyond National Heroes Day: the future of a culture depends on children knowing not only the names that shaped it, but why those lives still matter.

Source: Jamroc Dept · Do You Know Them?