Totality! Help Your Patrons Prepare for the 2024 Eclipse

A book review for Indiana Public Library Youth Librarians

Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science

by Jeffrey O. Bennett

Big Kid Science, 2022

Grades 4 - 8

Lexile 740L-1185L

Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science by Jeffrey O. Bennett is a great book to start or supplement your eclipse collection in preparation for the total eclipse that will pass over central Indiana in April 2024. As youth librarians in public libraries, it is important that our collections support our communities’ interest in this historical astronomical event. Totality! will serve as a foundational book for youth in this content area.

Totality! is an accessible informational book for children of all ages, with engaging photos and diagrams, a rhyming storyline that can be used with younger readers, along with Big Kid Boxes, or sidebars, that will keep older readers interested too.

Each spread includes sections of the rhyming narrative, along with sidebars of scientific information (Bennett, 2022, pp. 6-7).

The book includes the history of eclipse viewing, detailed explanations of the sun, moon, and earth orbits that create eclipses, and descriptions of various types of eclipses, including annular, total, and partial solar eclipses, and lunar eclipses. Bennett also offers tips for when and how to view eclipses safely. An extensive glossary will help readers successfully navigate the astronomical vocabulary, and several activities in the end matter will help readers engage more fully in the book.

This spread includes information about what to expect when viewing a total eclipse, along with safety information to avoid eye injury (Bennett, 2022, pp, 24-25).

While Totality! claims to be a guide in both rhyme and science, the two aspects can feel a little jumbled if you try to read through all the text on every page in one pass. Hopefully readers will heed the author’s suggestion in the introduction to read through the rhyming storyline first, and then go back through the book and read the sidebars for greater understanding (Bennett, 2022). You could model that approach in a storytime or eclipse program, too. The author also provides a two-page summary of the book’s key ideas in the end matter, along with a one-page layout of the rhyming storyline that runs throughout the book. These features go a long way in helping overcome any confusion readers might experience from having the rhymes and sidebars intermingled.

The summary of all the key ideas in the book will help readers who aren’t sure where to focus during a read-through (Bennett, 2022, p. 31).

The book also comes with two pairs of cardboard eclipse glasses, which you probably will not want to circulate. That means some of the information in the book specifically related to the glasses might leave readers further confused. Before circulating Totality!, consider including a simple note taped to the inside cover in place of the glasses to explain why they are not included in this version and what readers could do instead.

The extensive peritextual features mentioned above, along with its two-track approach that appeals to a wide young audience, make Totality! a great book for any youth collection. While the book’s specific references to the 2023 and 2024 eclipses may result in the book feeling dated later, its usefulness for these particular astronomical events, including maps showing the paths of annularity and totality, make this a great resource which is sure to get plenty of circulation for the next year or two. It also includes enough general astronomical knowledge that it could potentially have a longer life after 2024.

One of the book’s strengths is its specific focus on the 2023 and 2024 eclipses, which could also limit its shelf life (Bennett, 2022, p. 4).

Totality! is also a 2023 Teacher Favorites Award winner and a 2023 Librarian Favorites Award winner, along with being featured in Sky & Telescope’s editors’ list of favorite “Eclipse Apps, Books, Videos: Resources for the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse” (2023). Bennett also was recently honored with the 2023 American Association of Physics Teachers’ Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award, making him the perfect narrator of this important book (American Association of Physics Teachers, 2023). In addition, all seven of Bennett’s critically acclaimed children’s science books, including Totality!, have been selected for launch to the International Space Station for the Story Time From Space program (American Association of Physics Teachers, 2023).

Additional Resources

In addition to Totality!, consider the following resources to help you and your patrons prepare for the 2024 total eclipse.

When the Sun Goes Dark

by Andrew Fraknoi and Dennis Schatz, illustrated by Eric Freeburg

NSTA Kids, 2017

Ages 8 - 12

Lexile 890L

When the Sun Goes Dark is a narrative informational book that tells the story of a grandma and grandpa who tell their grandchildren about their travels to see a total eclipse. Through the course of the story, the grandparents explain a lot of the science and history of eclipses, but because it is told in narrative form, it might appeal to children who would otherwise be resistant to more straightforward informational books.

Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL)

by Star Library Network

https://www.starnetlibraries.org/about/our-projects/solar-eclipse-activities-libraries-seal/

This website offers many resources for libraries to help educate and support their communities leading up to and during eclipses. It also includes information about how to order free solar eclipse glasses to distribute at library programs.

Totality! app

developed for Big Kid Science

currently owned by The American Astronomical Society

https://www.bigkidscience.com/eclipse/

The Totality! app is a companion to Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science. It includes an interactive map that shows the view of upcoming and recent past eclipses from any location in the world, including the 2023 annular eclipse that passed over the United States on Oct. 14, 2023, and upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The app also includes information about how, when, and why eclipses occur, as well as classroom activities.

eclipse2024.org

by Dan Glaun and Eclipse2017.org, inc.

https://eclipse2024.org/

This website is filled with lots of resources related to the 2024 total eclipse, including eclipse timings, eclipse viewing information for every city in North America, eclipse resources, and an eclipse simulator that shows exactly what the eclipse will look like from many locations.

References

American Association of Physics Teachers. (2023, March 1). Jeffrey Bennett named as recipient of the 2023 Klopsteg memorial lecture award [Press release]. https://www.aapt.org/aboutaapt/Jeffrey-Bennett-Named-as-Recipient-of-the-2023-Klopsteg-Memorial-Lecture-Award.cfm.

Bennett, J. O. (2022). Totality!: An eclipse guide in rhyme and science. Big Kid Science.

Editors of Sky & Telescope. (2023, July 28). Eclipse apps, books, videos: Resources for the 2024 total solar eclipse. Sky & Telescope. https://skyandtelescope.org/2024-total-solar-eclipse/eclipse-apps-books-and-more-resources-for-the-2024-total-solar-eclipse/

Bread Is Life: Reading Fry Bread for Understanding and Belonging

A community book review for the library newsletter 

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story 

by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal 

Roaring Book Press, 2019 

Grades PK - 2 

Lexile 530L-810L 

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story is a picture book about a Native American food staple that also includes many important aspects of life for Native people today. Author Kevin Noble Maillard, a journalist, author, and law professor at Syracuse University, as well as a member of the Seminole Nation, Mekusukey Band, wrote the book as a “poetic picture book tribute to a family tradition and a food with origins in the diaspora of Native peoples in the United States” (Grabarek, 2019, para. 1). 

At its heart, this book is a story about family, belonging, and the joy of gathering around a beloved food that each family member looks forward to on special occasions. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and they include several “Native Easter eggs,” like family photos, symbols, and tribal patterns, which the author explains in his extensive author’s note (Graberek, 2019, para. 11). Each spread of the book covers a different aspect of fry bread, like the shape of the dough or the sound of it frying, but many also point to important cultural issues, like celebrations and festivals, customs and traditions, and geographical identity of various tribes.

The names and doodles in the cabinet represent various people involved in creating the book. The framed photograph is of the author's aunt. (Maillard, 2019, pp. 25-26)

The language of the book is simple enough that many early readers will be able to make their way through much of the text on their own. However, there are some words that adults will need to help with, including place and tribal names. Also, most children will recognize the familiar ideas of home, family, holidays, and meals in the text and illustrations, but the metaphoric language of “Fry bread is …” might be confusing. They also may not pick up on the clues about the racial diversity, cultural heritage, or tragic history of Indigenous people in the United States and throughout North America hinted at in the book.

This spread hints at the Trail of Tears, displacement, and land grabbing (Maillard, 2019, pp. 15-16)

If children do miss some of the deeper points in the book, on subsequent readings parents, caregivers, teachers, and librarians can use the author’s note to introduce young readers to these important issues and help them “in developing an appreciation for or an understanding of others different from themselves” (Wasta, 2010, p. 189). In fact, readers of all ages can find a lot to learn from this book through that author’s note, which “dives into the social ways, foodways, and politics of America’s 573 recognized tribes” (Kirkus Reviews, 2019, para. 2). 

The extensive Author's Note provides information about each spread, including historical and contemporary context, and explanation of some of the illustrations (Maillard, 2019, pp. 31-32)

This book, like others listed below, is important to include in our library's collection because it tells a compelling, contemporary story about an underrepresented group of people in our culture and offers a different, but well-documented, perspective about our nation's history that many Americans were not taught in school. The author’s note, as mentioned above, provides extensive context that other books do not. This story also provides a place for Native American children who live in our community to recognize their own families and customs in the pages of a book. According to the Civil Rights Commission of the State of Indiana, more than 25,000 members of federally recognized tribes live in Indiana (2023, para. 1). One of the reasons Maillard wrote this book was because he was looking for stories to read to his own children but “was having a hard time finding contemporary books about Native kids that weren’t about Thanksgiving or Pocahontas. Most were written by non-Natives, and all were about people that lived long ago, like some mythical vanished community” (Meizner, 2019, para. 3). Fry Bread, on the other hand, is primarily a story about Native families today.

Finally, this book makes a great addition to our library's collection because it has been widely reviewed and critically acclaimed, including winning more than 20 awards and recognitions. Among them, Fry Bread was named a Best Picture Book of 2019 by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, a 2020 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book, a Booklist 2019 Editor's Choice, a Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of 2019, a Goodreads Choice Award 2019 Semifinalist, a 2020 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a 2020 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year List, a 2020 ALA Notable Children's Book, along with being named a 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book and receiving a 2020 American Indiana Library Association Youth Literature Award. 

Read Fry Bread for yourself to see what a valuable addition it makes to our collection. Then read it to a child who’s special to you, your own son or daughter, a grandchild, or even a neighbor and talk about this important culture. Then connect it to your own family's tradition and customs. After all, "bread nourishes and comforts so many cultures, religions, and communities around the world" (Maillard, 2019, p. 37).

Other Books about Native People in our Collection 

We Are Water Protectors 

by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade 

Roaring Book Press, 2020 

Grades PK - 2 

Lexile 510L 

Told from the perspective of a young girl who is protecting the water from a black snake, this book speaks to the importance of water to Native peoples and calls for protecting water from harm. 

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga 

by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac 

Watertown, 2018 

Grades PK – 2 

Lexile 970L 

This book follows a Cherokee family and their tribal nation through the year as they practice the custom of Otsaliheliga, a Cherokee word for expressing gratitude. 

Birdsong

by Julie Flett 

Greystone Kids, 2019 

Grades PK – 2 

Lexile 560L 

This book is about a Cree girl who befriends and elderly woman after moving from the country into a small town. It follows the seasons, introduces elements of loss, and includes Cree-Métis words in the story and in a glossary. 

References 

Civil Rights Commission, Indiana. (2023). Are there any Native American tribes in Indiana? State of Indiana. https://faqs.in.gov/hc/en-us/articles/360033547051-Are-there-any-Native-American-tribes-in-Indiana- 

Grabarek, D. (2019, October 8). Fry bread: A tribute to family and tradition | An interview with Kevin Noble Maillard. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/fry-bread-a-tribute-to-family-and-tradition-an-interview-with-kevin-noble-maillard-native-american-picture-books 

Kirkus Reviews. (2019, June 22). Fry bread: A tribute to family and tradition [Review of the book Fry bread: A tribute to family and tradition, by K.N. Maillard]. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kevin-noble-maillard/fry-bread/ 

Maillard, K.N. (2019). Fry bread: A Native American family story. Roaring Brook Press. 

Meizner, K. (2019, October 20). Kevin Noble Maillard discusses his deeply personal debut picture book, fry bread. Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/kevin-noble-maillard-discusses-his-deeply-personal/ 

Wasta, S. (2010). Be my neighbor: Exploring sense of place through children's literature. The Social Studies, 101(5), 189-193.