A fantastic blend of science and colorful image, with eye-catching detail. I love thinking through what might be possible with this book as a mentor text to get students interested in reading and writing. Lovely.

In The Dark is essentially three books in one all focused on what happens at night. The first section is a wonderful breakdown of brain science and how sleep affects our ability to function. Part two focuses on nocturnal animals while the final chunk is a fascinating look at plants and their relation to darkness. If you have children who are interested in learning more about life science the illustrations in this text will help make even the most complex concepts easily digestible. Any child who thinks night time is a boring, quiet time will be pleasantly surprised to see how much happens while we slumber.

The cover artwork for this book is striking, I love the bright colors on the black background. It captured my imagination right away. You will find similar brights on black sprinkled here and there throughout the book.

The book delves into the science that happens at night. Topics explored include nocturnal animals, what happens in human bodies while they sleep, what happens to plants at night, things we see in the night sky, etc,

I was impressed by the book’s unique content. Interesting facts, such as, “What happens to your body if it doesn’t get enough sleep?”, were shared. Kids will enjoy the story about Randy, the boy who did a science fair project to see if he could break the Guinness Book record for most hours without sleeping. What does crepuscular mean? When is the best time to view a meteor shower? Why are a tarsiers eyes so enormous? Did you know birch trees relax their limbs at night, causing them to sag 4 inches lower at nighttime? What does nyctinasty mean?

Young scientists in upper elementary to middle school will love these unique facts and stories.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"When we close our eyes and drift off, the world is not simply dark and quiet - it hums with life."

Cover: 5/5
Audience: Young Readers
Themes: Night time, science, sleep, nocturnal, space
Overall: 4/5

A bright and fun illustrated book geared towards young readers. This 52 page book shows the science of what happens when we *humans* sleep and dream, what animals & plants do at night, and the earth's night-time science. BONUS POINTS: this beauty discusses the nocturnal ocean migrations YAY!

"In the Dark" has a good amount of information and really is a nice dive into the science of night, it is easy to understand but not too watered down. Honestly, people of all ages can learn a thing or two from it. Sleep is so so so important that teaching this information young is becoming more and more important. I really enjoyed the breakdown of the nocturnal animals and how they function - extra cute drawings in that section!

Overall, I was impressed by the science breakdown of this book, there were LOTS of really interesting nuggets of knowledge and the whole book was just gorgeous! I would definitely recommend this for every school library and anyone that wants to get a little bit more educated on nightlife science; it is a great reference book!

* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*

A very interesting book about night time and what goes in dark.A mixture of interesting illustrations in dry science stuff makes it worth reading in a sitting.
A must have for curious little minds.

In the Dark is going to be an essential title to add to any growing collection. It includes information regarding why we sleep, nocturnal animals, plants, and the Earth and Moon, but it is done in a kid-friendly way. There are tons of pictures and illustrations that support learning and it can be done through reading in parts.

To find out more information, or to see these amazing images, you need to pick up a copy. This is perfect to use in Science classes for multiple topics.

Do you ever wonder what happens at night while you're asleep and the world seems quiet and still? Nothing right? More like everything. The sky, animals, plants and even our own bodies are full of activity.

Learning is power as it helps you make wise decisions and understand the world we live in. For young readers that enjoy learning, this resource will encourage them to desire to know more about our world. It makes learning fun that you don't even know that you are learning. If you have a child that doesn't like bed time. He/she may change their mind when they learn the importance of sleep. How sleep is for our emotional and physical well being. How our bodies adapt to night and day. And what happens to our bodies when we don't allow the rest it needs.

The book is full of facts that speak to a child like an adult that is engaging. The illustrations give a visual learning experience as well. Highly recommend.

A Special Thank you to Kids Can Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

A great overview of what happens to all kinds of creatures during the nighttime. It's appealing as a browser, but reads well straight-through as well. Excellent, often very funny illustrations. Will purchase for my library.

This is an amazing g book, it really breaks down why sleep is good for you. We have been trying to explain why it is so important for my 8 year old to sleep, this will help our conversations so much. I loved the mix of science and pictures to explain it to kids!

In the Dark packed with information about what happen at night time. It talks about different kind of groups, from us human, plants, to animals. to the space. The illustration is so beautiful, makes the process of learning while studying so much fun! I know I have said this so many times while reviewing, but this is the book that library would need to have a copy.
I love the fact that reading this book gave me that warmth feeling that even in the dark, beautiful things are still happening :)

A colorfully illustrated nonfiction for young readers about night time and what happens during night to us, animals that are mostly active at night, plants and earth, and even stars and outer space. The writing style is simple enough for children to understand and I felt that it offers decent information, since I got some things out of it as well.

I thank Netgalley and Kids Can Press for the digital ARC.

An excellent example of expository nonfiction writing! I found the topic fascinating but a few places (especially the chapter on the science of sleep) felt like they might be a bit technical for some MG readers, so the glossary is helpful. Playful illustrations complement the text.

(I received a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Our bodies, the nocturnal plants and animals, the sky - all have an intense activity once we humans go to sleep. This is the premise of In the Dark.

The first chapter focuses on the brain and the activities that take place when we sleep at night. The stages the brain goes through are explained in a simple, easy to understand way. It's truly fascinating. The same informative, but reader friendly tone is adopted for the following chapters focusing on the night creatures, night plants, and the sky.

I'm sure I won't remember more then 1% of all the information in the book, but it's the kind of book kids interested in science and that sort of stuff will find fascinating. It makes for a great gift for a nature and science lover. And, may I suggest, a great coffee table book!

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Kids Can Press in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this reference book! This book provides a lot of great information about what happens at night. This information includes our sleep cycles, nocturnal animals, the night sky, and a myriad of other nocturnal information. I love that this book covers the Why, kids always want to know why something happens and now they will have their answer. I learned a few things reading this book as well; did you know that the earth’s largest migration happens every night? I did not!

The illustrations were beautiful, and I really loved the meteor shower chart! I have marked them all on my calendar.

Did you know there are ‘moon gardens’? Have you ever thought about whether or not plants sleep? This book was so interesting! I can’t wait to go through it with Isla when she’s a bit older - it seems perfect for late elementary and middle schoolers. Although, as an adult I enjoyed learning something new on each page!!

Lots of great information in this book! The illustrations and page layout were good. My seven year old is at an age for the information/words per page. We enjoyed it and would recommend this book.

In the Dark is a beautifully illustrated book for kids about a ‘darker’ side of science–what happens when most of us are sleeping at night!

This book covers many different subjects concerning biology, astronomy, and anatomy. For example, the first section is on the human body and why sleep is important for repairing and maintaining our bodies and brains. It acts as a fantastic reminder for both children and adults as to why sleep is so important. I found the review of circadian rhythm to be an interesting reminder that I think kids will be able to integrate into their lives as they grow.

The next two sections cover nocturnal creatures and plants and the biology that they’ve developed in order to adapt and survive. It covers predator/prey relationships, the anatomy of the eye of a cat verses that of a human, how plants capture and store energy for nighttime, and also moon gardens (everyone should have one!).

The last section is all about one of my personal favorite subjects: Astronomy! There is a lot to learn and some very cool and beautiful charts that kids can reference regarding meteor showers, constellations, planetary positions, aurora borealis, and the phases of the moon.

There is so much information and so many opportunities to learn in this book for both kids and parents. For someone like me who has always had a passion for science, this was a nice little refresher course–I picked up a few cool new facts as well!

It is so important to foster a love of science in young minds and I think this book does that with panache. The colorful and beautiful illustrations accompany some very fun information, which gives kids, especially those who are visual or right-brained, the opportunity to retain some very useful information that they will definitely be able to apply to the world around them. I have a feeling that I will be buying a few copies for birthday presents and we will probably be planning meteor shower watching parties soon.

'In The Dark' is a very cool scientific reference book with neat illustrations about what happens in the dark. From explaining why we sleep and dream to nocturnal animals to space, a neat variety of topics are presented in an interesting and simple way. This is perfect for older elementary school aged children.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

In The Dark is an amazing book for children who are afraid of the dark. It's amazing how it's explained why we sleep and what happens at night!

The circadian rhythm and the science of why the body needs sleep, how animals sense in darkness, the problems of light pollution – every aspect of such dark matters is brought into the light for the young reader by this book. And that's before we get on to astronomy. It has a very nice design, a quick way with readability – it just feels a little too randomly put together, and yet niche, to be an essential purchase for a cash-strapped school library. This will teach you about a lot of things, and will do it well – yet with nobody specifically studying anything like all the subjects herein, I can see it not being as successful as it perhaps deserves. Three and a half stars.