Module 11: The Day-Glo Brothers

Book Summary

This nonfiction picture book describes the story of Bob and Joe Switzer, the brothers who invented Day-Glo colors. The book starts by stating that the pyramids could not have been a glowing green, and the Statue of Liberty could not have been a glowing orange, simply because those colors has not been invented yet. Then the readers are introduced to Bob and Joe Switzer as two young boys. Bob was born in 1914, and he was a hard worker and wanted to become a doctor. Joe was born only 15 months after Bob, and he had a knack for doing magic tricks and solving problems—he even started performing magic tricks in front of crowds at school and church. Unfortunately for Bob, his plan to be a doctor was thwarted by an accident he had that gave him seizures, double vision, and a bad memory. Bob was confined to the dark basement during his recovery, but luckily Joe was down there too. Joe was experimenting with something he read about called ultraviolet lamps that make things glow in the dark—he wanted to use it for his magic shows. Joe and Bob ended up working together, and this was this start of their journey towards inventing Day-Glo colors. The book chronicles the brothers’ story, showing how they started with making glow-in-the-dark paints and continued experimenting until they accidently invented new colors: day-glo colors that glowed in both daylight and ultraviolet light. These colors proved useful in World War II, and the colors also eventually appeared on more and more everyday objects. At the end of the book, explanations are provided for how regular fluorescence works and how daylight fluorescence works.

APA Reference of Book

Barton, C. (2009). The day-glo brothers: The true story of Bob and Joe 

          Switzer’s bright ideas and brand-new colors. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Impressions

This informative book by Chris Barton is both interesting and educational; I liked it and would recommend it to juvenile readers (most likely for pleasure reading rather than research). First of all, I thought Barton started the story in a unique and creative way that would capture the attention of young readers by describing an imagined scenario of large pyramids glowing green and the Statue of Liberty glowing orange. Then Barton concisely tells the story of the Switzer brothers in a chronological order that is easy to follow and easy to understand. Barton tells the story in such a way that it can fit to the picture book format, but he includes important information and highlights events that are pivotal to the invention of Day-Glo and that move the plot forward. He does not get bogged down in too many details, but he accurately tells the story while emphasizing important parts, which I think is effective in keeping kids interested in the story until the very last page.

This book provides helpful and reliable information about the Switzer brothers and their invention, but, like I mentioned in my informational book evaluation (Dunham, 2012) I think there was an opportunity overlooked by Barton to explain how daylight fluorescence works within the story itself, which would have been both applicable to the story and informative to readers. On page 21, it says, “What had caused this? The alcohol? The dye? The boiling? The silk? Bob didn’t know, and with a million things on their minds, he and Joe didn’t have time to figure out the answer—not right then, anway” (Barton, 2009, p. 21). This quote made me think that I would be given the answer later in the story, but the answer only came in a reference aid at the end of the book that is not a part of the story itself. As a result, I thought it would have been helpful to put a brief explanation for how daylight fluorescence works somewhere in the actual story (Dunham, 2012). Also, for the most part, Barton utilized factual information rather than opinions in creating this nonfiction book; but there was one instance during which I think Barton’s opinion entered the story. On page 31, he stated, “In small but certain ways, the Switzers’ inventions helped the United States and its allies win the war” (Barton, 2009, p. 31). This statement seems to be more of an opinion than a fact to me, but Barton does not indicate this within the text; rather, the statement is presented as fact (Dunham, 2012).

At the same time, Barton did a good job of revealing authentic characters who experienced both successes and failures as they worked towards their invention. And they were unique characters: Bob and Joe were both presented as having different and unique personalities, which made them each shine as individual characters rather than get fused together as one, flat character. Barton also engaged in a lot of research before writing this story, which is explained in the Author’s Note at the end of the book. Barton explains that he referenced print resources and also spoke with many family members in order to accurately depict Bob and Joe’s story. It was also helpful that scientific explanations for regular fluorescence and daylight fluorescence were provided at the end. There is even a link on these pages to a website that animates the explanation for fluorescence, which is kid-friendly and accessible to the intended audience (Dunham, 2012).

I also think the illustrations contributed a lot to this book. The illustrations have clean, thick lines and solid colors that have a classic, retro feel reminiscent of the older time period during which this story takes place. Most importantly, the illustrations include Day-Glo colors, which fit well with the purpose of the story. The cover, for instance, has an all-black background and then the Switzer brothers are depicted as painting the earth in Day-Glo oranges, greens, and yellows. This cover is extremely eye-catching and invites young readers to pick up the book. Furthermore, the story starts off in illustrations that are all black and white, but colors are slowly introduced into the story as the Switzer brothers’ ideas are more and more refined. Also, the colors are initially pastel-looking, but the colors continue to get brighter as they experience more success, and then Day-Glo colors are used in the illustrations once the boys create these colors in the story. Thus, these illustrations and the use of colors effectively mirror the development of the plot and further reinforce the progression of the invention (Dunham, 2012). However, one concern of mine is that the use of Gay-Glo colors is not always accurate or realistic (Dunham, 2012). For example, Bob and Joe are shown near the end of the book wearing suits in Day-Glo yellow and orange and sitting behind a Day-Glo green desk. At the same time, this would be attractive and intriguing to a juvenile audience.

Overall, I was happy with this book and I think it is created to attract young readers, who would find both the content and the illustrations interesting and informative as well.

Professional Review

The following was stated in a review by Kirkus Reviews (2009):

The Switzer brothers were complete opposites. Older brother Bob was hardworking and practical, while younger brother Joe was carefree and full of creative, wacky ideas. However, when an unexpected injury forced Bob to spend months recovering in a darkened basement, the two brothers happened upon an illuminating adventure—the discovery of Day-Glo colors. These glowing paints were used to send signals in World War II, help airplanes land safely at night and are now found worldwide in art and advertisements (not to mention the entire decade of 1980s fashion). Through extensive research, including Switzer family interviews and Bob’s own handwritten account of events, debut author Barton brings two unknown inventors into the brilliant light they deserve. Persiani, in his picture-book debut as well, first limits the palette to grayscale, then gradually increases the use of color as the brothers’ experiments progress. The final pages explode in Day-Glo radiance. Rendered in 1950s-cartoon style, with bold lines and stretched perspectives, these two putty-limbed brothers shine even more brightly than the paints and dyes they created. (para. 1)

Library Uses

The Day-Glo Brothers would be a great book to introduce a library program centered around science and science experiments. A library program could be a Family Fun Night or an After School Program for elementary-aged kids and their families. The program could start with a book talk of The Day-Glo Brothers, after which the librarian can explain how fluorescence works and then demonstrate both regular fluorescence and daylight fluorescence. At the end, the program can culminate with a craft using fluorescent paper sheets or fluorescent paints.

This book could also be appropriately used for a book display featuring books about science or nonfiction books in general. Juvenile nonfiction books do not typically get checked out as frequently as juvenile fiction books in most libraries, and so eye-catching, attention-grabbing nonfiction books like The Day-Glo Brothers should be promoted to children in things like book displays and reading lists in order to encourage children and even parents to check them out.

References

Dunham, K. (2012). Informational book evaluation. Unpublished assignment for 

          

          SLIS 5420, University of North Texas, Denton, TX. 

[Review of the book The day-glo brothers, by C. Barton]. (2009, June 15). Kirkus 

          Reviews. Retrieved from www.kirkusreviews.com