From time in memoriam, the fascination and fear associated with solar and lunar eclipses—that could either cast the Earth in total darkness during daylight hours or paint the moon in bloody red hues during the night—have always intrigued humankind. These mysterious occurrences are fully explored and explained in Bruce Betts’, gloriously photographed short book for children of all ages, “Casting Shadows: Solar and Lunar Eclipses With the Planetary Society.”

“Casting Shadows” notes that the word, syzygy, refers to three bodies in space that are in a straight line, and in an eclipse the Earth, Moon, and the Sun must be in alignment with each other to cast a shadow on one or the other. The little book is chock-full of detailed data, including: historical astronomical observations; explanations for each type of eclipse; occurrences for each type of eclipse; safe and proper viewing methods for solar eclipses; moon phases; and much more.

This is a comprehensive and succinct reference guide regarding eclipses, although short, it is profoundly educational and professionally written and attributed to the Planetary Society of America that has members in the tens of thousands and whose current president is Bill Nye—The Science Guy. I highly recommend “Casting Shadows” for every home library.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Bill Betts, and Publisher Lerner Books for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.