Journey Around the Sun: The Story of Halley’s Comet
Journey Around the Sun: The Story of Halley’s Comet
Now that you could predict my next bright return, I became the star of a once-in-a-lifetime show.
On hillsides and shoulders – even up in a balloon – you watched me blaze toward the Sun.
During the 1910 return of Halley’s Comet, one daring American scientist – David Todd – took a hot-air balloon up hundreds of feet to view the comet more clearly through a small telescope. Todd knew that Earth’s atmosphere causes distortion when viewing the night sky. The higher up you go, the less distortion there is.
Journey Around the Sun: The Story of Halley’s Comet is a look at Halley’s Comet and its appearances throughout human history. The story is narrated by Halley’s Comet, itself, and focuses on how humans have seen and reacted to the comet throughout history. Journey Around the Sun ends with Halley’s Comet asking what the reader thinks the world will look like in 2061 when the comet next passes by.
James Gladstone tells the story through two different streams on the same page – the voice of the comet in large print and the scientific information in smaller print. While some readers may find this breaks up the story a bit for them, it also allows much more interactive reading with young readers. Children can read the story of the comet while an adult or older reader reads them the scientific information. The story format also allows a younger audience to enjoy the story of Halley’s comet as they can focus on the voice of the comet and ignore the scientific information at first.
The artwork by Yaara Eshet is beautiful. The technique used is able to show the different ways that comets look from Earth, especially the tail. The artwork also brings to life human society in the different years that Halley’s Comet passed Earth.
At the end of the book is a short introduction to comets called “What are comets?” which provides good basic information about comets and their structure. This is paired with a note from the author about Halley’s Comet which provides personal commentary from the author on his experiences and thoughts on the comet.
There is a short list of resources about comets that James Gladstone used when he wrote this book, but, unfortunately, none of the listed resources are written for younger readers. A short list of resources more suitable for readers of Journey Around the Sun would be very useful and help interested readers to explore the topic more.
Journey Around the Sun is a fun and beautifully illustrated introduction to Halley’s Comet that can be enjoyed by younger readers interested in space and our universe.
Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen is a graduate of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia.