Can a kobo ereader light up in the dark?

The Kindle does not have a backlit screen. It's a matte screen with electronic ink and reads like a book, so you can use it outside, when it's sunny, which is harder with backlit screens (like tablets or laptops). The downside is that you can't read on it in the dark unless you use either a lamp, a flashlight, or the little light in the cover that you order separately.