J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 108, 6, 1998, p.344
Frances Lincoln Ltd., 1998. ISBN 0-7112-1186-8. £10.99, hbk.
reviewed by Laurence Anslow
Star myths and legends continue to hold a fascination for young and old alike. Writer Jacqueline Mitton, who needs no introduction to readers of this Journal, and artist Christina Balit have teamed up to produce a delightful illustrated journey through the celestial zoo.
Young readers are invited to feast their eyes on a magnificent set of colourful illustrations of animals spread across the northern and southern skies. The reader is introduced to the two bears with long tails, the swan and its neighbour the fox, the scorpion, Taurus the charging bull, creatures of the deep, birds, dogs and of course the dragon. The artwork is detailed, with splendid use of colour for the creatures depicted and the added bonus of foil-blocked stars which reflect light not only from whatever light source is used, but also from the highly coloured pages. The result is a kaleidoscope of star colours, appreciated by the two youngsters aged 8 and 10 who kindly shared their opinions with me. The younger of the two was sufficiently motivated to take the book outside and attempt to find some of the constellations.
The text is written at the right level for good readers within this age range. Parents with younger children should be prepared to read the text whilst tender eyes marvel at the illustrations. Sharing a book like this must be one of the delights of encouraging the young to read. Star maps are provided on the endpapers and are not too crowded. Background explanations are given in two pages at the end for those who wish to know a little more about the subject matter of the book. This volume, with its constellations spread across twenty generous landscape format pages, provides an excellent story for young readers.
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