Moth: An Evolution Story

Winner of the 2020 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books

“Powerful and visually spectacular, Moth captures the struggle of animal survival against the background of a changing human world in a unique and atmospheric introduction to Darwin’s theory of natural selection.”

First published in the UK in June 2018, Moth was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal for Daniel’s breathtaking artwork, shortlisted for the English 4-11 Picture Book Awards, named a book of the summer by the Financial Times and a book of the year by Books for Keeps.

The US edition was published in June 2019, receiving starred reviews from The Horn Book, Foreword Reviews and Booklist, and was named a book of 2019 by The Horn Book, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library and the National Science Teaching Association. In 2020, Moth won the biggest prize for science books in the US, the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.

Some reviews:

“Moth by Isabel Thomas and Daniel Egnéus, published by Bloomsbury, is another picture book with inbuilt growing room, an introduction to the concept of evolution in language both scientific and poetic, full of thrill and peril. … Thomas’s spare text and back matter elegantly develop the book’s twin themes of survival and hope.”
– Times Literary Supplement

"Thomas deftly builds an easily understandable explanation of natural selection into the well-paced narrative.”
– The Horn Book, May/June 2019

“Nature and genetics are dazzling in this story of how the changing landscape and gritty pollution of the industrial revolution altered the wing color and pattern presentation of the peppered moth species.”
– Foreword Reviews, July/August 2019

“A rare pleasure … a true story of adaptation and hope.”
– Wall Street Journal

“… together, Thomas’s words and Egnéus’s illustrations introduce the contours and landmarks of this story in an elegant and engaging fashion. Moth also conveys broader lessons to guide young readers on a journey into a life in science, or just a life well lived: “Scramble through a forest…Be silent. Be still. Look closely…and hope.”
– SCIENCE, 2 December 2019