Seeking an aurora /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

★ "A magical experience." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

In the quiet of the night, a child's father bundles them up and shows them the majesty of an aurora. This book is perfect for those who love Owl Moon.

A father wakes his child from sleep to beckon, "Come--we're off to find an Aurora." Through the silent frost, across fields, and up hills they climb...And then they wait. Together they share an unforgettable moment and the majestic splendor of the northern and southern lights.

This moving and lyrical story is paired with scientific information about the awe-inspiring northern and southern lights to further inspire readers to seek their own natural wonders. Printed on FSC-certified paper with vegetable-based inks.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this lyrically written tale from author Pulford, a tan-skinned child's father wakes them in the middle of the night: "Come on," he says. "We're off to find an Aurora." Pastel drawings on colored paper by Bannock glow with the red of the father's coat and the warm yellow-orange of the child's jacket. The two tiptoe through the door and walk to the top of the hill. The child, not sure what awaits them, looks back at the house with its "warm, buttery light" and the footprints they leave in the frost. The father offers reassurance (" 'Is it scary?' Dad shook his head") but no further clarity until they cuddle up and watch: "wide wings of light flew over the sky." Bannock pulls back to show the duo as small black silhouettes against the magnificent colors of the aurora, "dancing light, glowing... and glimmering, shimmering and shining." The child's experience of seeing the spectacle with no preparation or preconceptions adds drama to Pulford's story, which stays tightly focused on the family's quiet outdoor adventure, and on the aurora itself. An endnote provides facts. Ages 3--7. (Jan.)

Booklist Review

A father awakens his child at night. They dress in warm clothing, quietly leave the house, and trudge through the frozen countryside together. "What's an aurora?" asks the child, who follows up with more questions along the way. "Is it scary?" Dad shakes his head. "Are stars in the aurora?" "No." The enigmatic father leads the way to the top of a steep hill. They sit down, surrounded by the starry sky, which suddenly amazes them with "dancing light, glowing and . . . / glimmering, shimmering, and shining. / Colored ribbons swirling and twirling / Lighting up the sky on the still, dark night." Awestruck, the two stand and watch in silence. On the walk home, Dad tells everything he knows about the aurora. An appended note shares that information with readers. First published in Australia and New Zealand, this picture book captures the beauty of the aurora phenomenon as well as the wonder it inspires in viewers. Written in free verse, the narrative raises questions that are resolved when the aurora appears. The hand-drawn, soft-pastel artwork uses rich colors, varied textures, and subtle lighting effects throughout the book, while the climactic scenes are vibrant and luminous. A memorable picture book that captures an unforgettable experience.

Horn Book Review

A story from New Zealand about a rare natural wonder. A father awakens his child late at night to "find an Aurora." The child asks, "What's an Aurora?" but Dad doesn't explain, prompting many guesses. The pair enters the cold and climbs to the top of a hill far enough away that they lose sight of their farm. As in Yolen and Schoenherr's Owl Moon, they then wait quietly. Soon auroral light illuminates the sky, leaving the child speechless and wide-eyed. With the first glimpse of colors, the child, wearing a bright yellow coat, stands page left, mouth open, marveling at the "wide wings of light," while the background displays deep shades of blues, purples, pinks, reds, and oranges, with a few stars overhead. The following page shows swirling colors, while the words, mostly gerunds suggesting motion, mimic the contours and flow of the light. In the third aurora image, only distant silhouettes of father and child appear as they celebrate this amazing, color-filled sky, arms raised. The soft pastels perfectly complement the story (particularly this three-page climax) because of the ability to smudge and blend colors, evoke movement, and highlight the rough texture of the paper. Informative back matter answers many questions the child asks about auroras. A stunningly beautiful, informative, child's-eye initiation into a notable celestial phenomenon. Michelle H. MartinJanuary/February 2021 p.89(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A father awakens a child for a nighttime adventure in nature in this import from New Zealand. "We're off to find an Aurora," the father says, and the two quietly slip past the sleeping mother and baby and exit the house into the night. The child doesn't know what an aurora is. As they walk past the cows and away from the house and up a hill, the child asks questions about the aurora. Are stars in the aurora? (No.) Is the moon in the aurora? (No.) The mystery builds as they approach the top of the hill, where they can see "only the sky, the stars, and the moon." They sit there at the top, and at last the child sees the aurora: "dancing light, glowing and…glimmering, shimmering and shining. Colored ribbons swirling and twirling, lighting up the sky on the still, dark night." The pastel-drawn artwork successfully evokes the warmth of the home, the cold of the dark night, and the splendor of the colored lights of the aurora. The spare, effective text is simple and lyrical, pairing neatly with the textured art. A simple endnote, titled "Everything Dad Knew About the Aurora," offers a child-friendly explanation of how an aurora comes to be without interrupting the immersive nature of the story. The narrator and their family have brown skin and straight, dark hair. A magical experience. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Elizabeth Pulford was born in Canada during the Second World War. At Secondary School she learned how to become a shorthand typist. At nineteen she packed her bags and left Dunedin with a girl friend to travel the world and make her fortune. She never did make the fortune, but she did travel. England, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland and other places as well. Some of the more interesting jobs she landed while travelling was working for The Save-the-Children Fund in the head office in London and Sotheby's, the famous auction house.

Eventually she married and moved to New Zealand and began to write. She started with articles and short stories and began winning competitions. She soon started writing for children which lead to her success. Her book Finding Monkey Moon made the New Zealand Best Seller List in 2015.

(Bowker Author Biography)