Journey Around the Sun: The Story of Halley’s Comet

Relayed from the first-person perspective of Halley’s Comet, the first comet “whose orbital return was correctly predicted,” this picture book by Gladstone surveys humankind’s history of witnessing the comet over thousands of years. Gladstone employs a removed, almost ominous tone for the comet’s voice (“I have seen your past.// And I will see your future, the next time I take that sunlight journey”). Historical observations feature in a smaller font beneath the comet’s observations: one tripartite page shows three iterations of the comet as a paragraph beneath reads, “In 1607, Flemish astronomer Gottfried Wendelin... wrote that the comet looked like a flaming sword.” Eshet contributes fine-lined watercolor art, giving inky skies a wonderful depth while juxtaposing a historically inflected art style with comic-style panels. An intriguing picture book primer on “the most famous comet.” Back matter includes an author’s note, a brief overview of comets, and sources. Ages 4–8. [em](Mar.) [/em]