Northern Lights

Children's Literature - Leona Illig

Part of the "Big Outdoors" science series, this book explores the phenomenon known as the Northern Lights. It describes the locations from which they can be seen and the best times of year to observe them. The book provides a brief but understandable explanation of how the lights are formed and why they glow in different colors. It also mentions some of the legends connected with the lights and notes that modern scientists study the lights with satellites. While this is a book that could be read to a child, it is more suitable for children who are reading independently. The text is large and simple, and the passages are short, which should attract children who want to read for themselves and explore science at the same time. The photographs, many of them full page, consume a large part of the book. At the back of the book is a glossary of six words highlighted in bold font in the text, a limited list of references for further reading, and a brief index. Like other books in the series, the text should be accessible to young children and the photographs are interesting. The relationship between text and photographs, a problem for some books in this series, has been corrected in this book, making it a nice science reader for young children. Reviewer: Leona Illig