Product Description

Everyone knows rainbows look magical, but how do they work?

You'll find out when you join the Rainbow Patrol. Rainbow expert Roy G. Biv will guide you back in time to learn the importance of rainbows in ancient cultures. You'll go inside a raindrop to discover how light bends to create the rainbow's dazzling colors. Finally, you'll return home and learn how to make your own rainbow!

You'll become a real rainbow expert as noted astronomer E.C. Krupp and artist Robin Rector Krupp combine fascinating facts with dazzling illustrations to reveal the secrets of the rainbow. The creators of The Big Dipper and You bring their celestial know-how a little closer to earth in this entertaining introduction to our most colorful natural wonder.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2295812 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-30
• Released on: 2000-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Library Binding
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-Through readable text and dazzling illustrations, the Krupps explore this meteorological phenomenon. As in The Big Dipper and You (Morrow, 1999) and The Moon and You (Macmillan, 1993), the highly pictorial format belies a scientifically oriented text. Using Roy G. Biv (a leprechaunlike elf in yellow slicker, blue overalls, rainbow-colored boots, and with matching whiskers) as a helpmate, the author includes a brief assortment of global rainbow myths and legends as well as an explanation of the mechanics of the physics behind the glowing arc of colors. The clear text gives clues to searching for rainbows and rainbow colors in unlikely places, and instructs readers to make scientific observations when they occur. Isaac Newton's experiments with prisms are included, but earlier experiments by Theodoric of Freiburg are not; nor are ghostly moonbows, rare fogbows, and ground-hugging dewbows. Still, this is a brilliantly rainbow-hued, tightly focused investigation of these seemingly miraculous spectacles that inspire wonder and delight in all who view them. Aficionados should also check out Stephen Kramer's intriguing Theodoric's Rainbow (Scientific American, 1995).
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The Krupps offer a delightful picture-book study of rainbows without undercutting the magic or the beauty of the phenomenon. Roy G. Biv (his name is a mnemonic for the rainbow's colors--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), a gnomelike fellow with rainbow socks and a rainbow beard, helps guide youngsters through the facts. The Krupps mention rainbow stories from various cultures, from the rainbow bridge of the Viking Asgard to the rainbow serpent of the Australian Dreamtime. Isaac Newton's explication of the rainbow, the science behind double rainbows (ever notice that the order of the colors is reversed in the outer rainbow?), and the way to make a rainbow using a garden hose are just some of the intriguing tidbits the Krupps supply in engaging and effortless style. They also provide a handy checklist of questions eager students of rainbows may want to investigate. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Dr. E.C. Krupp and Robin Rector Krupp have worked together on The Comet and You (Macmillan), the first children's book to receive the American Institue of Physics Science-Writing Award; The Big Dipper and You (Mulberry), an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children' and, most recently, The Moon and You (Mulberry). Dr. Krupp is the Director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and an expert on ancient and prehistoric astronomy.

Customer Reviews

excellent choice
Our kids loved this book. Explained really well the science of light defraction, with a nice history of other cultures beliefs on the history of rainbows. Even included the biblical perspective. An excellent book to use with a unit study on light and rainbows.

A beautifully illustrated book!
This book not only tells you everything that you might want to know about rainbows, but shows through amazing and interesting illustrations the rainbows many facets. A great way to get your child curious about the natural world. Also check out "The Big Dipper and You" also by the Krupps.