A Few Beautiful Minutes by Kate Allen Fox

A Few Beautiful Minutes is a beautiful way to prepare for the April 8 solar eclipse.

A Few Beautiful Minutes: Experiencing a Solar Eclipse by Kate Allen Fox, illustrated by Khoa Le. Little Brown, 2023, 32 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 4-10

Under a broad, blue sky/ from coast to coast/ we gather for a rare illusion . . .

a total solar eclipse—when the sun vanishes into thin air . . . for a few beautiful minutes.”

We see children preparing for the event by making sun viewers out of cereal boxes (directions provided in the appendix). On the day of the big event, people gather in parks, beaches and backyards. Moment by moment, the moon takes slices out of the sun until “the corona’s lightning-like tentacles grasp at space; their glow/ dances in our eyes, all of us aware of our own tininess,/ all captivated and connected for those tiny precious minutes.”

The poetry stirred by this rare event may go over a young reader’s head, but some of the specialness comes through in the luminous illustrations. The appendix includes a simple explanation of the phenomenon and what to expect if you’re in the path of totality, as many of us will be on April 8. Get your viewers ready!

Overall rating: 4.25

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: Science-minded (or historically-minded) teens will enjoy American Eclipse, about the great solar event of 1878.
• Reviews: Great picture books about space: Gravity, How We Got to the Moon, and Exploring Space.

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