Glow Down Deep: Amazing Creatures That Light Up

by Lisa Regan

"Amazing!" "Wow!" "Cool" Any one of these may well be the response when children see the lenticular cover and glow-in-the-dark illustrations in Glow Down Deep . The book takes readers into the lives of amazing glowing organisms -- animal and otherwise -- and shines a new light on the spectacular natural phenomena of bioluminescence, biofluorescence and ultraviolet light. Glow Down Deep goes into the depths of the ocean to find sea dwellers that use the power of light--or the semblance of light--to survive. It could be for camouflage, mating, warding off predators or attracting prey. The Glowing Ocean, for example, is a type of bioluminescence that many humans can see. It occurs on the water surface when small planktonic surface dwellers--such as single-celled Dinoflagellates--are bioluminescent. Under the right conditions, they bloom in dense layers, giving the ocean surface a reddish-brown color in daylight and a sparkly sheen at night. Some of the Dinoflagellates in these algal blooms are poisonous to animals and can cause sickness or even death in humans. Readers will learn about 23 organisms, their biology, what type of luminescence they use, where and how they survive: "Did You Know?" insets focus on unusual facts, like the sailors who followed the lights of Flashlight Fish to guide their boats through dangerous coral reefs at night; or the glowing Siphonophore Fish, one of the longest animals in the world, even longer than a blue whale! Like its companion title, Nature at Night (9780228102540), Glow Down Deep takes a new look at how nature magically lights up the dark. Young readers will thrill at the striking cover and spend many an hour under the bedsheets marveling at the glowing illustrations.

48 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2020

About the author

Lisa Regan has written over 400 published titles, including picture books, puzzle books, children's reference and curriculum-linked workbooks. She lives in Colchester, UK, with her sons and husband.

Her work ranges from magazine-style books on fashion and sleepovers, to highly illustrated STEM titles that fit into schools and libraries lists. Her favourite topics are wildlife and geography, but she also has huge fun writing rhyming tales.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Guiri de Las Montañas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book was very cool and informative. HOWEVER, you can’t just show me a picture of a dragonfish (a very terrifying-looking sea creature) and not tell me their size! I googled it- they usually don’t get any bigger than 1 foot. Same with sea cucumbers, because how is it not a fun/important fact that they can be anywhere from less than an inch to over six feet long?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The glow in the dark pages are really cool and my 5 year old daughter loved it when I would turn the flashlight off. A lot of words, so for my daughter I skipped some stuff, but very informative.