A book review of Her Eyes on the Stars: Maria Mitchell, Astronomer by Laurie Wallmark
Stars: *****
Creston Books (2023)
Children’s Nonfiction
40 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: Maria Mitchell’s curiosity about the night sky led her to spend hours studying the stars. She discovered a comet as a young woman, winning an award from the King of Denmark for being the first person to discover a new comet using a telescope.
Now famous as “the lady astronomer,” Maria went on to become a professional astronomer, an unheard of achievement for a woman in the 19th century. She was the first woman to get any kind of government job when she was hired by the United States Naval Observatory. Then as the first woman astronomy professor in the world, Maria used her position at Vassar College to teach young women to set their sights on the sky, training new generations of female astronomers. Her story inspires all of us to reach for the stars.
Her Eyes on the Stars
This is the story of Maria Mitchell, a female astronomer in a time when females didn’t go into science. It’s in picture book format but doesn’t shy away from big words. It would be of interest to kids aged 6+. I enjoyed reading it and I’m an adult!
This book is great for girls to read especially to encourage them to pursue their interests no matter what. It’s very You Go Girl!
The back of the book includes some extras such as: Maria’s Rules of Astronomical Observation, Glossary, Types of Solar Eclipses, Timeline of her life, Bibliography and About the Authors. This section is good for extending the learning.
The illustrations by Liz Wong are sweet and match the book. It’s a great book for a child interested in science or for encouraging children, especially girls in general.
Buy Her Eyes on the Stars from Amazon.com and help support the blog.
Find Her Eyes on the Stars at Goodreads.
About Kathleen
