In Praise of Mystery

Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3

From U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and Caldecott Honoree Peter Sís: a transcendent picture book featuring the poem that will travel into space aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper.

As part of her tenure as U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón has written “In Praise of Mystery,” which will be engraved on the Europa Clipper spacecraft that launches to Jupiter and its moons in October 2024. Published here as Limón’s debut picture book, this luminous poem is illustrated by celebrated and internationally renowned artist Peter Sís. In Praise of Mystery celebrates humankind’s endless curiosity, asks us what it means to explore beyond our known world, and shows how the unknown can reflect us back to ourselves.

About the Author

Ada Limón is the 24th U.S. poet laureate. She has won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and been a finalist for the National Book Award. She has recently received both a Guggenheim and a MacArthur Fellowship. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.Peter Sís has received the Robert F. Sibert Medal, three Caldecott Honors, and a Sydney Taylor Honor. He was the first children’s book creator to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, and won the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. He lives in Hudson Valley, New York.