Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark

Night Magic is both a joyous journey into the night and a glorious celebration of the dark! New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion makes the case for embracing darkness as a fundamental and profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit—and she invites us to leave our well-lit cocoons and step outside to closely observe the life teeming there. It turns out you don’t have to go far: We are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, gigantic moths, and nocturnal blooms that reveal themselves, incrementally, as light fades. Henion takes us with her as she strolls through glowing moon gardens and forests of bioluminescent mushrooms. She ventures just to the water’s edge to see nocturnal salamanders and wriggly glow worms.

Every page feels like an opportunity for readers to ask themselves: How did I not know about this before? For example, we learn that it takes hours—not minutes—for human eyes to reach full nocturnal capacity. And that there are thousands of firefly species on earth, each with flash patterns as unique as fingerprints. Henion joins the hundreds of people who make an annual pilgrimage to a festival of synchronous fireflies, camping overnight to watch these creatures blinking in unison like an orchestra of light. For readers who like to nerd out on science, Henion talks to naturalists, ornithologists, primitive-skills experts, and others who’ve dedicated their lives to cultivating relationships with darkness and the creatures that depend on it. 

With so much attention paid to the negative effects of light pollution, Night Magic is an opportunity to focus instead on the dazzling, awe-inspiring nature that does surround us—we can take back the night. No need for powerful telescopes to stargaze into the distant cosmos or to don scuba gear and dive into the depths of oceans—these are wonders everyone can enjoy right in our own backyards.