Mysterious Glowing Mammals

School Library Journal (starred review): “The narrative nonfiction format reads like an adventure novel, exploding with every text feature imaginable…A must-purchase for collections serving curious minds.”

Booklist: “There’s a wonderfully conversational tone to the text, and it’s packed with facts and funny asides…Stellar storytelling sure to make a citizen scientist out of any curious reader.”

A Junior Library Guild selection

A Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice for 2024

One of Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids in 2023

Late one night, ecologist Jonathan Martin was searching for tree frogs in his Wisconsin backyard when he made an unexpected discovery. As he shined an ultraviolet flashlight in the direction of a high-pitched chirp, Martin saw a flash of bright pink at his bird feeder. That pink glow was coming from a flying squirrel. What was going on?

You’re probably familiar with some kinds of glowing animals. Fireflies light up summer nights. Bioluminescent jellyfish and other sea creatures fill our oceans. But some animals glow only under ultraviolet light. This is called biofluorescence. That flying squirrel Martin found turned out to be one of the first-ever recorded sightings of a biofluorescent mammal.

Follow along with Martin and his colleagues as they delve into the mystery of the flying squirrels and discover that they aren’t the only glowing mammals out there!

Ages 9-14
September 2023
Lerner Publishing/Millbrook Press
ISBN: 978-1-7284-6041-3