I am never certain of the validity of books about factual topics disguised as works of fiction. Often this leads to humanization of characters and an artificiality of situation which the intelligent child quickly sees through and may well find patronizing. [A Star in the Sea] is a typical example. Primarily it is a study of the life-cycle of a star fish, with details of structure, eating habits and reproduction. These have been dramatized by the imposition of a fictional structure (even down to the name 'Stella'); the events are described as 'adventures' which 'frighten' and 'excite'. Yet despite all this, the book succeeds, largely because of … its amazingly detailed text.

Advanced students of zoology and general physiology who have been enlightened by Living Light by Edmund H. Harvey … and Bioluminescence by E. Newton Harvey … are aware that the presentation of an elementary introduction to the subject of bioluminescence is not a simple task. The Silversteins … have done quite well [in Living Lights: The Mystery of Bioluminescence]. The chemical nature of cold light arising from the ability of creatures to manufacture luciferin and luciferinase, the necessary presence of oxygen and the energy derived from the presence of ATP (Adenosene triphosphate) are explained as well as possible for young people who know no biochemistry or physiology. The luminescence of fireflies—different in intensity and periodicity of flashes in males and in females—is explained, as well as the differences in behavior of fireflies of Burma and Thailand from those in North America…. Of particular interest is the work of McElroy at Johns Hopkins in the 1940's…. It was the research of McElroy and his colleagues that discovered that ATP is the energy source that turns on the bioluminescence of the firefly. The book has an index, but no references to other literature; but perhaps this latter lack is due to the absence of literature that can be handled by readers of the age for whom the book is intended. This is a good introductory science book because it has tackled a single topic in an authoritative fashion. Although the ingenious young reader may be stimulated to engage in a study of the duration and intervals of firefly flashes, some suggestions for student experiments and observations would have been a worthwhile addition. These could easily have been inserted as an expansion of the suggestions concerning a "firefly lantern."