Picture taken from:
http://www.amazon.com/DAY-GLO-BROTHERS-BARTON-AUTHOR-HARDCOVER/dp/B0041OAKFQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320639662&sr=1-2
Summary:
Bob and Joe Switzer are as different as night and day. Bob is a motivated man with his mind set on success and Joe tries to find the easy way out. Joe enjoyed magic tricks and creating illusions to entertain and Bob strived to be a doctor and make a comfortable living. When Bob is injured in an accident, his dreams of becoming a doctor die. Bob finds himself recuperating in a darkened basement (because of his injuries) and growing bored. His brother, Joe, was working on a project of his own in the basement he’s trying to come up with new illusions by using blacklights for his magic show. Bob decides to assist his brother with making a blacklight lamp, and through experimenting with blacklight and fluorenscence, the men stumble on a new type of bright paint. These paints are an instant hit with Joe’s magic show and become very profitable with sign painters, construction workers, and fabric printers. The Switzer brothers became famous and wealthy because of their great, bright invention.
Citation:
Barton,C. (2009). The day-glo brothers.Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Impression:
Chris Barton does a fantastic job of telling the story of the Switzer brothers that is interesting and informative. Barton is able to bring a complicated subject to the level of his reader without talking down to them or over their heads. The story is light-hearted and as creative as the Switzer brother’s bright invention. Persiani’s neon illustrations are a great companion to the story and evolve as the story progresses.
Reviews:
Everyone knows the story of the invention of the airplane, the telephone and the light bulb. But there are a million little things around us that we never even notice which didn’t exist until somebody thought them up. Take Day-Glo colors. We see them every day on Blaze Orange traffic cones and hunter’s caps, Signal Green sticky notes, and Saturn Yellow highlighter markers. But did you ever stop to think why some pinks look rosy while others are actually hot?
Like most people, author Chris Barton didn’t give Day-Glo colors a second glance until he happened to read an obituary of Robert Switzer, who with his brother Joe turned an interest in magical illusions into an industry — and along the way created hues Nature never dreamed of. The Day-Glo Brothers tells about Joe’s fascination with ultraviolet lamps, which he wanted to use to make objects in his magic shows glow in the dark. Poking around in their father’s drugstore, they found chemicals which they used to create the first fluorescent paint. Then Bob got the idea to make glow-in-the-dark ink for store signs and billboards. It was an accident that some of the paint they developed also glowed in the light. World War II made the brothers rich selling glowing paint for buoys, signal flags and safety jackets. Psychedelic posters and bright green tennis balls came later.
The Day-Glo Brothers is a picture book aimed that younger kids will easily follow. The illustrations by Tony Persiani naturally make generous use of the glowing colors. And publisher Charlesbridge has a web page with links to an animated explanation of how Day-Glo works, interviews with the author, and the original obituary that started Barton on the project. There’s also a teacher’s guide with activities — but the best activity is to give your kids a black light at your local hardware store and let them see what might glow.
The Day-Glo Brothers, by Chris Barton with illustrations by Tony Persiani, retails for $18.95 but can easily be found for less (or, like me, you can borrow it from the library).
Kathy Ceceri is a senior editor at GeekMom.com and the homeschooling mother of two, one of them in college studying interactive game design. She is also the author and illustrator of activity books for kids. She is currently at work on a book about robotics for Nomad Press.
Citation:
Ceceri, K., (2009, Dec. 7). [The true story of Bob and Joe Switzer's bright ideas and brand-new colors] [book review]. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/12/the-day-glo-brothers/
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In this debut for both collaborators, Barton takes on the dual persona of popular historian and cool science teacher as he chronicles the Switzer brothers' invention of the first fluorescent paint visible in daylight. The aptly named Day-Glo, he explains, started out as a technological novelty act (Joe, an amateur magician, was looking for ways to make his illusions more exciting), but soon became much more: during WWII, one of its many uses was guiding Allied planes to safe landings on aircraft carriers. The story is one of quintessentially American ingenuity, with its beguiling combination of imaginative heroes ("Bob focused on specific goals, while Joe let his freewheeling mind roam every which way when he tried to solve a problem"), formidable obstacles (including, in Bob's case, a traumatic accident), a dash of serendipity and entrepreneurial zeal. Persiani's exuberantly retro 1960s drawings--splashed with Day-Glo, of course--bring to mind the goofy enthusiasm of vintage educational animation and should have readers eagerly following along as the Switzers turn fluorescence into fame and fortune. Ages 7-10. (July)
Citation:
(2009). [The true story of Bob and Joe Switzer's bright ideas and brand-new colors] [book review]. Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/index.html
Uses:
- Host an art night where individuals paint with fluorescent paints. Read this book to let the artists know where fluorescent paints come from.
- Have an inventor’s book display and which highlights The Day-Glo Brothers.
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