THE NIGHT RAINBOW

Paying poetic tribute to the aurora borealis, Esbensen and Davie (Echoes for the Eye, 1996) invoke the legends with which

northern peoples have wreathed it. "We look up / and the sky begins to move" in a whirling dance of moccasined spirits, the struggles of giant white geese trapped in ice, flaring fire arrows. "The breath of ghostly Hungarian horses," the Sky-Fox’s glowing tail, and other images are all given star-dappled embodiment in Davie’s sweeping painted skies. Esbensen properly notes her sources and expands on her theme with an appended account of the aurora’s scientific origin, plus a tally of forms and colors it can adopt. Science, poetry,

legend, and ghostly, dramatic visuals combine seamlessly in this evocative tribute to a natural wonder. (Picture book poetry.