Art educator Geo Rutherford began to make a name for herself on TikTok in October of 2020, when she started posting a yearly "Spooky Lake Month" video series. The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response has resulted in Spooky Lakes the book, a beautifully illustrated work showcasing 25 fascinating and noteworthy lakes from around the globe.
Rutherford highlights lakes from every continent, which include one under ice in Antarctica, another created by a meteorite in Europe, and one accessible only through a hole in the middle of an Australian cow field. She explains the myriad ways lakes develop--volcanoes, glaciers, earthquakes, sometimes even humans--as well as the numerous lifeforms they may contain: sharks, jellyfish, nerpa seals, and more. Rutherford also reveals tantalizing tidbits one typically doesn't associate with lakes. For example, when the season becomes warm enough to melt the ice of Roopkund Lake in India, "the solitude of the lake is exposed as untrue" and hundreds of human skeletons are revealed "hidden beneath the snow." (Rutherford notes that "we still don't know why there are so many human remains there.")
Middle-grade readers may be drawn into the extraordinary world of limnology (the study of lakes) through Rutherford's spellbinding details and amazing facts. As part of the book's backmatter, Rutherford includes an author's note (though no map) that explains how she found a "balance between accuracy and artistic interpretation" in her gouache illustrations. This careful intentionality creates an eye-catching array of images in bright colors and lifelike textures that capture the power and atmosphere of each locale. Rutherford's meticulously researched content and harmonious art make a spectacular splash. --Jen Forbus, freelancer