I was working on this post to use at a later date .... and then I learned the northern lights might be visible in the pnw tonight! (September 12, 2014) It was obvious that I had to get this one ready sooner rather than later. ;-)

Aurora Borealis: the Amazing Northern Lights, by S.-I Akasofu (yes, that's exactly how it shows on the book!) is part of the Alaska Geographic Society collection of books that have been in past blogs. I enjoy the diversity of what is included in these books: in this case there are woodcuts and pencil drawings as well as photographs. There are poems, legends, scientific essays, and excerpts from journals of travelers. There are chapters on the polar explorers, those that came and settled in this cold, harsh land, and studies done in everything from a balloon to an airplane. It's too bad these books are no longer published. (This one came out in 1979).

Aurora: the Northern Lights in Mythology, History and Science by Harald Falck-Ytter with photographs by Torbjorn Lovgren. This really does get into the science end of things, and some of it is a bit of a slog for me, but overall this was a good read. Again, beautiful pictures.

I found the 'sciency' stuff a bit easier to read in Aurora: the Mysterious Northern Lights by Candace Savage. There's even a bit on the Southern Lights (which seem to mirror the Northern Lights). My favorite part is the excerpt from a Robert Service poem The Ballad of the Northern Lights where the author explains what the lights really are!

The Fiddler of the Northern Lights, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and illustrations by Leslie W. Bowman appeals to me not only as someone who loves the northern lights, but as a musician as well. Turns out, it is a fiddler that calls up the dancing lights in the sky, and this story is proof. :-)

While The Night Rainbow is another book about the northern lights, this time it's done in poetry. Barbara Juster Esbensen includes many of the old legends her poem, which is perfectly illustrated by Helen K. Davie. I especially enjoyed the page at the end explaining all the different shapes the lights might take. Be sure to look for them in the poem.

Someone had to figure out just what the northern lights were and what caused them. That man was Kristian Birkeland and his story is told in The Northern Lights: the True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis, by Lucy Jago. Well researched, this was an interesting read.

Many of the amazing photographs in Northern Lights: the Science, Myth, and Wonder of the Aurora Borealis I've seen on calendars, and with good reason, they are by the same folks, Calvin Hall and Daryl Pederson. The essay by George Bryson only adds to the wonder.

I do hope there is a dog team or two out there running under the northern lights!

Reading Hermit With Dog