Glow in the Dark: Nature's Light Spectacular

This wasn't the most successful book to review on a laptop, what with the pages being treated to have glow in the dark properties. Luckily, several years of handling the actual hardbacks from this publishing house convince me this will be a great item to hold and browse in real life, and that the effect will work. It's a primer for some select few scientific things, such as double rainbows, sun- and moondogs, the Northern lights, and so on – all optical and all having some nice glowing effect to them, hence the special gimmick applied. It doesn't go into the physics of it much, or the scale of things – we're told about the fluke that the moon is the same amount of times smaller than the sun as it is distant, which allows us to see proper solar eclipses, but not how far that might be. And anyway, the visual representation of the wonders of the world is what we're here for, and the design is really colourful and pleasant. I'd be on board for this if I were buying for a school library – there can't be many rival volumes with such a focus.

When I discovered my first glow in the dark item as a kid I was in awe. Unlike many other things from childhood, this wonder remains. Naturally I was keen to get my hands on a book that features glow in the dark illustrations.

Katy Flint has taken some of the most interesting light shows the world has to offer and explained how, why and where they happen. I found the explanations easy to understand and enjoyed the additional facts, especially those that mentioned what people thought was happening before science finally made sense of them.

In this book you will learn about:

☄️🚿 Meteor showers
☀️ Solar eclipse
🌈🌈 Double rainbows
🌋⚡️ Volcanic lightning
💡 The polar lights
🌝 Super blood moon
🔥 Firefall
❄️ Light pillars
🌞🐶 Sundogs
🐛 Glowworm caves
🌄 Brocken spectre.

While some of these phenomena can be seen worldwide if the conditions are right, others are location specific. My favourite facts were:

“A double rainbow is where two arcs can be seen in the sky at once. The second rainbow’s colors are paler, and in the opposite order to the first: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.”

“The auroras have confused many people throughout history. Vikings thought they were caused by the shining weapons of immortal warriors.”

I really enjoyed Cornelia Li’s illustrations. Because of my fascination with bioluminescence, my favourite illustration was of a glowworm cave in New Zealand. The illustration that I’m most looking forward to seeing glow is the polar lights.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for the opportunity to read this book.

A lovely, glowing illustration of nature’s light shows across the world. Clear descriptions e plain the science involved—why and how it happens.

Wonderful book. My daughter is still a bit young for this but one I will definitely use as she gets older. Nice illustrations and well executed. Very informative

This is a short but fascinating children's book that looks at the science and beauty of some of our planet's coolest nature-related shows. Each one is featured in a double-page spread that tells one place in the world that has it, some cool facts about it, and the science behind it. Lovely illustrations depict each show.

The twelve shows are: the polar lights (northern lights to us in MN), meteor showers, a solar eclipse, a blood moon, double rainbows, volcanic lightning, firefalls, light pillars, sundogs (something we see a lot of in our cold), glowworm caves and brocken spectres. The locations featured range from New Zealand to Canada to Yellowstone to China, though many can be seen far beyond the locations mentioned.

It felt like a bit of a loss not having photos of these natural wonders rather than the art, though the art was lovely. I'm sure kids would really like to see these phenomena as they really look. That said, it's a really interesting read that will likely get kids excited about trying to see some of these (or more of them) themselves.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

The real book has a glow in the dark effect. I cannot review this part since I read an online copy. However, I can understand how magical it might be for children to read this book with the effect. It's absolutely an extra that makes this book even nicer.

'Nature's light spectacular: 12 stunning scenes of earth's greatest shows' is a scientific book for children. There are 12 natural phenomena that are discussed on 2 pages each. Every natural phenomenon got a little information, some facts and a few of them have scientific drawings besides the 'regular' drawings.
Because there is not online text in this book, but also some great artwork that shows off what nature can cause. I personally loved the artwork in this book. Knowing that they glow in the dark, makes it even more special. I feel like it will be more 'real' for a child if stars shine bright and so on.
It's great to see how an educational book doesn't feel too heavy. The book is informative but still gives the child a relaxed feeling.
Yet, I feel like there could be more information. After the double page with some facts and the artwork, there could be another page or two with a more detailed explanation. Some children would like a little more information than what's given.

I love books like this, where you are transported to a new place to learn something wondrous. Events that happen in nature are of a particular fascination and this book highlights spectacular events happening with light.
I knew of several events, such as the Northern Lights and a double rainbow but a few were new and it was nice to be able to put a name to something I have seen.
Working around the world, this book gives tips as to where, when and how to see these light spectaculars safely and in the best way. From volcanic lightning in Chile, to light pillars in Canada and then to the brocken spectre in China. Nature is brilliant and this book with show you some of the wonders.
Giving some scientific facts about how the event is created or caused will appeal to budding scientists, while the artwork and illustrations will encourage all readers to pore over the pages noticing the smallest details.

Superb and stunning!
One for the collectors shelf!

This would be a fun book for anyone who enjoys astronomy. The graphics are wonderful. Thought the explanations of some wonders of the sky visual to us earthlings were concise yet understandable. Heard of many phenomena included but learned a few new things as well. I found the section on Glowworm Caves especially entertaining as I have visited many caves but not those. This book would be a great bedtime story with the glow-in-the-dark feature.
I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for my volunteer review.

This is a stunning book all about light - from super blood moons and meteor showers to double rainbows, the Northern Lights, and volcanic lightning. The double-spreads are all big, beautiful images, full of colour and magic, and the descriptions are fascinating but also very accessible for young explorers. My almost-6-year-old saw me reading through this and was completely enchanted. A wonderful idea for a book and really well-executed.

The illustrations in this book are incredible. A perfect book to teach the fascinating natural world of lights to children. It will definitely be a book that I add to my nieces' library. My only comment is that the description of the aurora borealis is not what I have been taught. I was taught that solar storms on the Sun's surface releases charged particles into space which are attracted to the magnetic poles and react with the earth's atmosphere.

5 out of 5 🌟 Nature Science at its best

Glow in the Dark is a series of books about dark and light and 'Nature's Light Spectacular' is the newest addition to the series. The work is about twelve different light phenomena that can be seen around the world. Each chapter (case study) describes a place where it was observed, how to see it by themselves and a short and sweet explanation of the events causing it. 'Nature's Light Spectacular' describes Nature wonders like the solar eclipse, polar lights or Glowworm Caves.

The chapters are fairly brief and text is divided into colorful and easy to read segments what makes it more accessible for younger readers. Although the sections are short, a lot of scientific explanations live in between colorful illustrations, this is definitely a science book where even adults can learn something new.

The most amazing thing about 'Nature's Light Spectacular' is gorgeous illustrations by Cornelia Li. Every page is a true feast for the eyes. Vibrant and lively colors of artwork are the second best thing after seeing those wonders of Nature in real life. I loved it! The book comes with a glow in the dark poster and that's a piece of art I want to have on my wall.

<I>Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.</i>

The illustrations are nothing short of stunning. From the cover and throughout, the colors are rich and powerful. Great information on various light phenomena on and above the earth. Good explanations and a consistent style so a kid will know where to find information.

My son really liked this. Not a great digital book for the glow in the dark aspect, but it's a neat book nonetheless and would be a great one in hard copy.

Glow in the Dark: Nature's Light Spectacular: 12 Stunning Scenes of Earth's Greatest Shows, written by Katy Flint and illustrated by Cornelia Li, is a children's book currently scheduled for release on May 19 2020. Follow two intrepid explorers as they witness the Northern Lights, marvel in wonder at glow worm caves, go hunting for double rainbows, and dodge volcanic lightning. Each spread features an enchanting illustration of a different natural phenomenon animated by a description of the science behind it, told in exciting prose. Fact boxes call out more information.  And for those with the paper edition there is a glow in the dark poster featuring the stages of a solar eclipse. 

Glow in the Dark is simple beautiful to look at. The full page illustration of the light effects of our world are worth the purchase price all on their own. The fact boxes and information about each of the natural light shows include Volcanic Lightning, Meteor Showers, Double Rainbows, Sun Dogs, Glowworm Caves, Super Blood Moon, Light pillars, and Auroras. I learned new things about each of these phenomenon and found the information offered to be well written and interesting. I think the combination of the stunning layouts and well done text will capture the interest of readers, and perhaps encourage further research or exploration in young readers. I think this would be a valuable addition to libraries, and as a classroom tool in discussing these topics and the science of light in general.

Glow in the Dark is a visually stunning book with interesting information that will capture the attention of a wide range of readers.

Glow in the Dark: Nature’s Light Spectacular is a book that you will want to grab when your child asks you to explain these natural light phenomena, such as Sun Dogs, Blood Moons and Double Rainbows. Combining stunning artwork with brief explanations, this book provides just enough information to answer curious younger children’s questions, while providing older children with a starting point for further investigation. I would have liked to see a reference page at the back of the book to assist in finding additional resources to supplement the fact box diagrams included. Overall a resource I would be happy to have in my home or school library.