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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
by Dan Glaun and Eclipse2017.org, inc.
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/
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