An Allegorical Puzzler

The Queen’s Shadow

by Cybele Young

44 pages

3/5 stars

A mystery fable about animal vision, The Queen’s Shadow is an unconventional science book. The digitally enhanced pencil drawings are in a dreary Victorian style. The not-quite-right scale and perspective remind me of a collage. One plus is the roomy double-page layout. Each animal’s special type of vision is highlighted by having the animal give an alibi to prove that it did not steal the queen’s shadow. Sidebars on each double-page use heavy jargon like “trinocular vision”, and “photoreceptors” to explain the point of view of each animal. It is not until the appendix of the book where there is a short glossary that these words and phrases are explained more fully. “Depth perception”, “compound eyes”, and even the British slang word for bathroom “loo” are tersely defined. There is also a very short guide to each animal and an explanation of human vision. The allegorical style and silly setting - a haughty queen with her court of animal nobility - makes it difficult to absorb the science. A 7 to 11 year old child would probably be better off searching for “animal vision” videos on YouTube.