The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything - Laura Alary - ★★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Laura Alary

ILLUSTRATOR: Ellen Rooney

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: May 3, 2022

RATING: 4.75 stars.

To my utter shame, I had not heard of Maria Mitchell. So when I saw this children’s picture book dedicated to her life, I knew I had to give it a go. And what an enlightening experience it has been!

Maria Mitchell was the first professional female astronomer in the United States, the first female member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and one of the first female college professors, that too at Vassar. Society expected her to live a more traditional “womanly” life. But she was a little lucky that she was born to a Quaker family, who believed in education for all and equality of genders. Having an astronomer for a father and a librarian for a mother certainly helped Maria’s brilliance. What a loss it would have been for the world had she been part of a more orthodox family!

The book details out Maria’s life from her younger years, her scholarly and scientific achievements, and her discovery of what we today know as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet”. What I loved even more is the inclusion of practical life lessons in the author’s note. This section provides many wonderful thoughts on what lessons can be learnt from Maria’s life. How I loved this section! I wish all picture books could include something like this rather than leaving the parents/teachers to figure out the morals and messages from a book.

The illustrations are ‘out of this world’, as they need to be to depict an astronomer’s life. 😉 Blue is a dominant colour to doff a hat at the night sky and its myriad stars. The rest of the illustrations are also drawn in an appealing way, though they aren’t too vibrant, thus keeping in with the tone and time period of the story.

Though a picture book, it doesn’t speak down to its readers. There are difficult words, and very young readers might need help comprehending some of the details. But to the right age group, this book will be inspiring.

The only area where the book could have worked better for me is in specifying the time period and Maria’s age as the story progresses. There are so many events depicted from various stages of her life, but other than a slightly more grown-up version in the illustrations, we never know how old she was when those things happened. The year in which she was born is mentioned only in the author’s note. Having a mention of this at the start would have established the time period clearly in the minds of the readers. But these are minor areas of improvement.

Overall, I adored this book and relished the opportunity to learn about one inspiring woman whom history shouldn’t forget. Heartily recommended to everyone.

My thanks to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.