I have always loved the night sky.

Thanks to my reading friend in California, I am lucky enough to have a copy of the original version of Switch on the Night by Ray Bradbury with illustrations by Madeleine Gekiere. I also have a newer version, it's that good! A little boy does not like Night, he does like the Sun and all kinds of lamps. When he meets a little girl named Dark, his life will change forever.

I have two favorite 'starry' short stories: Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov. It was expanded into a full length novel, but I have a preference for the short story. It was the result of a question posed to Asimov as to what would happen, how would humans react if the stars were visible only one night every 1000 years. And, The Nine Billion Names of God, by Arthur C. Clarke. In Tibet there is a monastery. The monks who live there have just one job ... to write down every one of the names of God. There are approximately nine billion of them. They've been working on this project for some time but there are still at least 15,000 more years of work so the decision is made to install a computer, which will complete the project much more quickly. Does it? If so, what happens?

Sara Teasdale's star poems are some of my favorites. Stars To-night with illustrations by Dorothy Lathrop is my first choice, but it is long out of print so any complete collection of her poems will work. Decades ago I memorized 'The Falling Star' and it still comes to mind when I see one blaze across the sky.

Celestial Charts: Antique Maps of the Heavens, by Carole Stott was an unexpected find in a used book store. This is a stunning collection of maps of the night sky and what artists thought might be there.

There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars, written by Bob Crelin and illustrated by Amie Ziner. Wonderful illustrations and a warning set in poetry explain the effects of light pollution, how it affects humans, animals, and plants.

National Geographic publishes beautiful books for readers of all ages. Once Upon a Starry Night: a Book of Constellations by Jacqueline Mitton and Christina Balit is no exception. A companion book to Zoo in the Sky, this book has the stories of the gods and heroes found in the night sky.

For a more thorough (but very interesting) take on the night, there's Acquainted With the Night: Excursions Through the World After Dark, by Christopher Dewdney. Chapters break up the night from dusk to dawn and what happens during that time, and how that has changed over time. Learn about stargazing, dreams, reading to children, and insomnia, as well as "things that go bump in the night".

"We are, all of us, descended from astronomers." -- Carl Sagan --

Reading Hermit With Dog