Isabel and the invisible world /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Renowned physicist Alan Lightman, author of Ada and the Galaxies , turns his focus to light waves in a second story for children.

There's only one gift Isabel wants for her sixth birthday: a way to see invisible things. She can hardly think of anything else! Finally, the day of her party arrives. Unwrapping a big box, Isabel finds a surprise inside--a glass prism--and a dazzling world of previously invisible color emerges, lighting up the room around her. What else could be out there, waiting for her eyes to discover? In simple, engaging language, complemented by luminous artwork from best-selling illustrator Ramona Kaulitzki, author and physicist Alan Lightman unveils the hidden world of light waves--the ones you can see and the ones you can't. Back matter delves briefly into the subject of wavelengths, radio waves, and X-rays for readers curious to know more.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Isabel, a multiracial girl from a family with varying skin colors and hairstyles and who loves colorful polka dots, has always wanted to see invisible things, much like her friend Genevieve, who walks an invisible pet rabbit. As Isabel's sixth birthday approaches, her scientist mother has an idea for a special present that will help her achieve her wish. But first, there are fun birthday posters and party hats to make. Finally, on the big day, Isabel receives a prism and her mother explains how it separates the invisible colors of light. Softly rendered digital art not only sets a playful tone but offers plenty of hints about light and prisms to find before and after reading, from streaming sunlight to stained-glass windows to rainbows in confetti, cakes, and Isabel's birthday posters. An up-close image also demonstrates the prism at work, while a concluding note explains how light travels in waves and how the human eye can't see some kinds of light waves, like radio waves. A charming, breezy introduction to STEM basics.

Kirkus Book Review

A special present reveals a world we can't ordinarily see. For her sixth birthday, Isabel would like to be able to see invisible things. She seems to have in mind things like her friend Genevieve's imaginary pet, but in this engaging story, her parents come up with a real surprise. After a week of waiting, a party, and a cake, she opens her big present, a prism. Refracted through the prism, ordinary sunlight spreads out to show all the colors of a rainbow, and the invisible becomes visible. This simple but effective introduction to portions of the electromagnetic spectrum is physicist Lightman's second science-inspired book for children. As in Ada and the Galaxies (2022), co-written by Olga Pastuchiv and illustrated by Susanna Chapman, he emphasizes the wonders that science can reveal, nicely ending his narrative with Isabel wondering about other invisible things. Isabel's eager anticipation is realistic and familiar. Even when she receives her gift, it's concealed within a series of boxes. (Adults can admire the parallels with scientific discovery.) Isabel's scientist mother expands a bit on prisms, describing radio waves as another color of light we can't see. Backmatter gives a more detailed explanation. Kaulitzki's warm digital illustrations make effective use of light and color. Isabel's family appears to be multiracial; Isabel and her father are brown-skinned, while her mother and brother are lighter-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Invisibly and effectively instructive. (Informational picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Alan Lightman was born in Memphis, Tennessee on November 28, 1948. After completing an A.B. at Princeton University in 1970, a Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology in 1974, and postdoctoral studies at Cornell University in 1976, he moved directly into academia, teaching astronomy and physics at Harvard University, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the 1980s, he found a way to combine his literary and scientific interests when he began to write essays about science. He explored astronomy, cosmology, particle physics, space exploration, and the life of a scientist, writing about these topics in a way that makes them understandable to the average reader. Many of his essays can be found in the collections Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe and A Modern-Day Yankee in a Connecticut Court and Other Essays on Science.

He is the author of Ancient Light: Our Changing View of the Universe, which won the Boston Globe's 1991 Critics' Choice award for non-fiction; and is co-author of Origins: The Lives and Worlds of Modern Cosmologists, which received an award from the Association of American Publishers in 1990.

In the 1990's, he branched out into fiction, although still with a focus on science. His novels include Einstein's Dreams, Good Benito, and The Diagnosis.

(Bowker Author Biography)