The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (2009)
Chris Barton
Illustrated by Tony Persiani
This brilliant picturebook about the inventors of Day-Glo offers an inspiring story with several science and social studies connections.
The storyline follows brothers Joe and Bob through their experimentation with neon colors and emphasizes their persistence in improving the product they developed throughout their lives. Initially, Joe used their discovery to create illusions for his magic shows, and Bob thought of more practical uses for the colors that could pay his medical bills after an accident thwarted his dreams of becoming a doctor. Barton later reveals important uses for day-glo and fluorescent colors, including a variety of uses during World War II.
Persiani’s strategic use of neon color in the book mirrors the brothers’ enlightenment as each discovery is made. The first pages engage the reader by depicting impossible scenes like neon green pyramids and a bright orange Statue of Liberty, then going on to explain the discoveries made by the Switzer brothers. The drawings look like 1950s cartoons and feature a black and white palette. Neon images in the digitally created scenes highlight the discoveries and various uses of fluorescence and Day-Glo.
The endpages feature bright neon yellow, orange and green tones that appear throughout the book, as well as a section explaining the differences and basic scientific principles behind fluorescence and Day-Glo. There is also a link to an animation about how regular, fluorescent, and daylight fluorescence work: www.charlesbridge.com/day-glo-animation.html
Children will be inspired to explore their surroundings and make the best of the situations they find themselves in just as the Switzer brothers did. Teachers will enjoy the delightful science connection in this book, and will want to point out how Joe’s original idea began as he read his favorite magazine, Popular Science.
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