What Makes a Shadow? Book and Tape (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2-This simple introduction to shadows is a newly illustrated version of a 1962 title. Each page offers a short description of an object and its shadow ("A house has a shadow. The sun shines on one side of the house. There is a shadow on the other side"). Experiments are suggested to show various sizes and shades, and the concept of night is explained. Unfortunately, the brief, straightforward text is unimaginative. Otani's illustrations are flat and uninspired, depicting children with dot eyes and upturned curves for mouths. This book is not likely to interest young readers, although it is on a topic that usually fascinates them. With its rhyming text and exuberant paintings, Ann Whitford Paul's Shadows Are About (Scholastic, 1992) is a much more effective treatment of the subject.