Key Selling Points

• Light pollution is threatening the survival of plants and animals all over the world and the ecosystems they depend on. For example, millions of migratory birds die every year because of light pollution.
• More than 80 percent of the world lives under skyglow from artificial lights. Two-thirds of the U.S. population and more than one-half of the European population can't see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The skyglow from Los Angeles can be seen by a plane 500 miles away.
• Light pollution and artificial lights like LEDs have a detrimental effect on human health and upsets our circadian rhythm. It has also been linked to some cancers.
• Plants and animals have adapted to live in darkness over millions of years. Darkness is as necessary as daylight for their survival.
• Stephen Aitken is a biologist and the author ofListen Up , also in the Orca Footprints series.

Stephen Aitken is a biologist, artist and author. Despite an early brush with nyctophobia (fear of the dark), he became fascinated with bioluminescence while researching a book he wrote on the dangers of light pollution. He has written and illustrated many picture books, chapter books and close to a dozen nonfiction books for middle-grade readers, and he is the author of Saving the Night and Listen Up! in the Orca Footprints series. Stephen is the cofounder and executive secretary of Biodiversity Conservancy International and is the editorial director of the science journal Biodiversity.

Stephen Aitken's profile page

• Commended, Bank Street College of Education Children's Book Committee Best Children's Books of the Year
• Long-listed, The Nature Generation Green Earth Book Award - Children’s Nonfiction
• Commended, Junior Library Guild (JLG) Gold Standards Selection
• Long-listed, Science Writers and Communicators of Canada (SWCC) Book Awards - Youth Category
• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens
• Commended, Junior Library Guild (JLG) Gold Standard Selection

“Richly described and alluring…Aitken urges his readers to be unafraid of the dark and after reading this excellent book, tweens will want to venture forth into the night without a flashlight.”

School Library Journal

“[An] informative addition to the Footprints series…This organized, involving book will fill a gap in many library collections.”

Booklist

“This book gives us ways to love the night, and be part of the movement to keep darkness with us. The author shows how to be a part of a darker movement, for the betterment of all…A beautiful eye opener.”

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)

“Invites middle graders interested in learning more about how light pollution is a threat to every living thing on the planet.”

Sal's Fiction Addiction

“Flashes on a too often unconsidered sort of environmental pollution.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Both personal and poetic…A very comprehensive look at the role of light in the natural world and the effect of light pollution on all living organisms. This book deserves to be available and promoted in schools and libraries. Saving the night for all of us is worth it. Highly Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

“Readers will be inspired to take notice and take actions…A wonderful new volume in the Footprints series.”

Erica Sommer, Baker & Taylor