Glow Down Deep: Amazing Creatures That Light Up

"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:

• Bigfin Reef Squid
• Dragonfish
• Siphonophore
• Glowing Coral
• Cock-Eyed Squid
• Crystal Jellyfish
• Sea Pen
• Chain Catshark
• Comb Jelly
• Hatchet Fish
• Krill
• Plankton
• Glowing Oceans
• Bobtail Squid
• Helmet Jellyfish
• Tube Anemone
• False Stonefish
• Viper Fish
• Sea Cucumber
• White Spotted Jellyfish
• Pipefish
• Angler Fish
• Seahorse.

"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.

Lisa Regan studied English and Linguistics at the University of Nottingham and gained a postgraduate diploma in Publishing at West Herts College. She has written over 400 books, including picture books, puzzle books and children's reference. She lives in Colchester, UK.