Rainbow and You

Dr. E.C. Krupp and Robin Rector Krupp have worked together on The Comet and You (Macmillan), the first children's book to receive the American Institue of Physics Science-Writing Award; The Big Dipper and You (Mulberry), an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children' and, most recently, The Moon and You (Mulberry). Dr. Krupp is the Director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and an expert on ancient and prehistoric astronomy.

Grade 2-5-Through readable text and dazzling illustrations, the Krupps explore this meteorological phenomenon. As in The Big Dipper and You (Morrow, 1999) and The Moon and You (Macmillan, 1993), the highly pictorial format belies a scientifically oriented text. Using Roy G. Biv (a leprechaunlike elf in yellow slicker, blue overalls, rainbow-colored boots, and with matching whiskers) as a helpmate, the author includes a brief assortment of global rainbow myths and legends as well as an explanation of the mechanics of the physics behind the glowing arc of colors. The clear text gives clues to searching for rainbows and rainbow colors in unlikely places, and instructs readers to make scientific observations when they occur. Isaac Newton's experiments with prisms are included, but earlier experiments by Theodoric of Freiburg are not; nor are ghostly moonbows, rare fogbows, and ground-hugging dewbows. Still, this is a brilliantly rainbow-hued, tightly focused investigation of these seemingly miraculous spectacles that inspire wonder and delight in all who view them. Aficionados should also check out Stephen Kramer's intriguing Theodoric's Rainbow (Scientific American, 1995).
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
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