Ada Limón’s upcoming book features her revolutionary poetry beautifully illustrated by Peter Sís — and PEOPLE has a first look!
In Praise of Mystery, scheduled to be published by Norton Young Readers on Tuesday, Oct. 1, highlights Limón’s poem, “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” which is also etched on NASA’s Europa Clipper rocket that will be launched on Thursday, Oct. 10.
The U.S. poet laureate first debuted the original work in June 2023 as part of NASA’s “Message in Bottle” campaign, inviting people to sign their names to the poem and participate in the Europa Clipper mission.
Norton Young Readers
“The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored,” the mission’s website explains.
Sís, a 2003 MacArthur Fellow, three-time Caldecott Honor recipient, and eight-time New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award winner, was called upon to illustrate the picture book to introduce young readers to the poem.
One of the spreads shows Limón’s line, “We are creatures of constant awe,” scrawled underneath a large tree. Another says, “From earth, we read the sky as if it is an unerring book of the universe, expert and evident.”
Norton Young Readers
The upcoming book release comes two years after Limón was appointed the 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
“Ada Limón is a poet who connects,” said Hayden in a July 2022 statement. “Her accessible, engaging poems ground us in where we are and who we share our world with. They speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
In Praise of Mystery will be published on Oct. 1 and is now available for preorder wherever books are sold.
