Really inspiring ! The graphics are good and the story is full of great messages for all generations !

The book chronicles the life of Maria Mitchell in a fashion suitable for kids of all ages. The writing is good. I loved the illustrations and all the different textures. I understand where the book is coming from, but I am tired of reading about how much better it is to leave one's home in search of adventure and education. I shouldn't have picked this up. It's not for me.

In this book, we learn the story of Maria Mitchell, a little girl whose love for adventure, mathematics and the universe itself, led her to discover her very own comet.

We follow her from a very young age and we see the seeds that eventually led to her discovery, being planted. And we take a look into her life when she discovers a comet and when she also becomes a teacher, one of the first to advocate for the education of both boys and girls.

I am going to admit that this particular book, was actually educational for me as well, since I had no idea who Marie Mitchell was! Imagine my surprise when I found out that she was a real life astronomer (who, of course, isn't really mentioned in our history books. I wonder why. Could it be because of her gender?)
So, I believe that of course, this will be educational for the target audience as well.

I loved the way it was written, the simple language, the beautiful illustrations and the whole sentiment/moral of the story: "Women can do the same things as men, when given the opportunity and the right tools" & "Enthusiasm and patience will help you achieve great things."

I recommend this to parents/caregivers/teachers who want to read to kids something that is both sweet and will help them learn about some real life history.

“Mingle the starlight with your eyes and you won’t be fretted by trifles.”

I recently finished Maria Popova’s Figuring where I learnt about Maria Mitchell for the first time. Hers is such an interesting and fascinating story, so I was glad to find this beautifully illustrated book on Netgalley, which introduces this positive role model, this woman of firsts to children.

The book sums up the lessons from her life for young readers in a wonderful manner — patience, practice and persistence, the benefits of boredom, to question everything and to choose your own path in life. May the book inspire more children to question everything, for that is the first step to finding the answers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: The Story of Maria Mitchell is a lovely, fascinating picture book about women and astronomy. It talks about women's rights, desires and dreams and aspirations; bonds Maria had with her family; the environment she grew up in,... This book is written by Laura Alary, and is illustrated by Ellen Rooney.

Maria Mitchell was an American astronomer that grew up believing she did not need someone else 一of authority一 to think for her, or telling her what to do. She had strong opinions, and was raised in a religious family that believed in equality between women and men. She was also a teacher and a librarian.

She was one of the most relevant women in history of astronomy.

"Maria's shining determination lit the way for other young women scientists to follow."

She encouraged her students to use their own minds, and taught them to question everything.

In this book, we can learn more about Maria Mitchell's life. It's filled with colorful, bright illustrations that catch your eye in an exquisite and beautiful way as is well rich in details.

"Why starve women's minds to feed men's bodies?"

I highly recommend this book, especially for children 一although I always recommend this kind of books for everyone, and I do so with this, too一, and especially for girls. This book is filled with feminist topics.

I found the reading of this book so interesting! I always love to read books about women written by women. It's inspiring for me, and helps me a lot.

I highly recommend it!

This picture book biography tells the story of astronomer Maria Mitchell who pushed boundaries and set the stage for future female scientists to come. Demonstrating the importance of inquiry, STEM and following your dreams, Maria Mitchell is a role model for young girls everywhere and this picture book not only tells her story but shows the adversity women in science faced in the past, and still face today. The illustrations are beautiful, they appear to be mixed-media or collage, and are a perfect example of texture in painting. As a teacher I could see using this book as an introduction to biography, for lessons on STEM, as inspiration for art and many other social studies and science outcomes. The book also concludes with several pages of historical information as well as support for young girls with aspirations and interests to explore. I think this would be a great book for teachers, librarians and families of children ages 4-12, especially young science lovers. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

An inspiring biography which teach everyone the story of the first woman astronomer really quick. Very inspirational especially for young girls and really important facts are stated in this book. A book I'd love my future daughter(s) to read, if I'll have. The illustrations are very beautiful and make the story to go by very easy and beautiful.

The story of Maria Mitchell is inspirational, and there is so much fascinating backmatter included! I loved the illustrations and found myself nodding along from the first words. Here is how it starts:

"Maria was a collector.
Stones. Shells. Feathers.
Words. Ideas.
She was always looking. Whatever sparked her imagination, Maria tucked into her pocket or jutted down in her notebook."

I hope this beautiful book inspires all kids to be curious about the world around them!

What a wonderful book for children. This book teaches children especially young women that you can do or be anything you want. My daughter loved this book and I read it again tonight at bedtime. Five stars for sure!

Book received for free through NetGalley

I read this with my two daughters. In the word of my seven year old:
“I love how this story is about a girl who loves space because I loves space and I want to look at space too and I love that the brother wanted to sail because my friend’s mom does too. It’s probably one of the best books ever. I love it so much.”
My 5 year old:
“I love every book you do especially the one that has outer space. I love it. I want to explore the outer space world too. And I love your book so much. Xoxo”

I love this story! It was a delightfully illustrated biography of Maria. Simple to understand text gave a concise biography weaving a lovely picture of her life. I love that the author had pages at the end expanding on Maria’s personal philosophy and experience.

While scrolling in Netgalley to find the perfect book, I stumbled upon this one. I saw an absolutely magical cover with the promise of providing a fascinating glimpse into the life of USA's first female astronomer. I didn't know at the time that Maria Mitchell was also the first American scientist to discover a comet and the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The book both surpassed my expectations and gave me a fearless, groundbreaking hero to look up to every time I think about quitting.

The illustrations are enchanting accompanied with informative, engaging and well-crafted story. The writer and the illustrator have done a tremendous job. I wish I knew about Maria before. She lived the life many of us dream about and learning what made her exceptional and worthy of the job can inspire girls across the world. Persistence and curiosity were two of her most extraordinary traits. I am also in awe of her unconventional, genius parents who played a significant role by supporting her and adding to her knowledge that paid off greatly throughout her life. May Maria's story remind children irrespective of nationalities, gender and any sort of boundaries that anything is possible if we are passionate and put our mind into it.

Thank you Netgalley! You are amazing.

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything written by Laura Alary is a lovely story about a young girl named Maria Mitchell who was the first female astronomer of her time. More and more stories are coming out about young women who have changed the world and it is both encouraging and inspiring. Maria was born in the early 1800s where women were expected to stay at home and learn to sew and cook and not much else. It is wonderful to see women of this time creating a path for women in the future, these Trail Blazers paved the way for voting and independence and without them we wouldn’t have either. Their stories need to be told and this book is a beautiful addition to that.
The art and illustrations are so beautiful that honestly I think fewer words on the page would enhance the story even more. Some of the words are long and technical that a small child of the age group this is meant for is not going to be paying attention to them but they will be able to see the story unfold before their eyes on the page. I also was not a fan of the font, with how elaborate the illustrations are I would expect to see something more eye grabbing to stand out rather than the most basic font. In addition to that there was a page half way down where the words were unreadable against the background and I’m not sure if it was an issue in design or in the download. There was also a page where she’s saying things are”preposterous” and it was very confusing and I think something must have been missing on my end as I couldn’t figure out why she was saying those things.
Overall the story was very nice and for the most part easy to follow. I especially enjoyed the real life information in the back. I hope this turns into a series for other women of her kind.

Inspiring to read this on the International Women’s day!

<i>The Astronomer who questioned everything</i> is about Maria Mitchell, who became the first female astronomer in the United States, one of the first female college professors, and one of the first female member of the American Academy of Arts and Science.

I love to read about the women who came before me, who were these amazing, badass, awesome women, who took a big step to tell the world that no matter our gender we can also do it!! I have to admit, I had not heard of Maria Mitchell before reading this book, but I’m honored to have read about her now.

The illustrations in this book were so beautifully made, and the story was so inspiring. We as readers also gets a good guide to find our own calling in this world. With this book I’m sure will inspire young readers to pursue their dreams.

Yet another important female pioneer I've never heard of! The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything is the story of Maria Mitchell, a young girl from Massachusetts who discovered a comet in the late 1800s when the King of Denmark offered a prize to anyone who could find one. Maria grew up in a Quaker home with a librarian mother who loved books and an astronomer and mathematician father, who were adamant that Maria have a great education (especially since she had an affinity for math and astronomy herself). After she discovered the comet, she became a professor of astronomy at a university and became the first woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Science.

This is a great informative book to teach kids about a great female in STEM. The illustrations are really nice too! This book made me do further research on her and the Quaker religion.

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- How cute is that cover?!

Everything about this book was amazing! From the beautiful illustrations to the engaging way the story was told. I had never heard of Maria Mitchell before reading this book (much to my embarrassment), but she is certainly someone whose name and achievements should be more well known. I could see this book being a great addition to any child's library, or as a great resource for homeschoolers.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This is a lovely book that shows the power of dreams and bravery to live outside the norms. Beautiful illustrations and some great supplemental material at the end. The time period in which she lived felt a little unclear and the privilege she and her family add seem significant, but overall a good story bringing in math, science, and critical thinking skills!

The childhood story of Maria Mitchell, was the first professional female astronomer in the U.S. How cool is that?

Maria (pronounced Ma-RYE-ah) learned by observation as a child, and her parents bestowed many good lessons in life on her. It all culminated into Maria becoming increasing fascinated with the stars, and from there, new discoveries in space. It's a fascinating story to read about, and I love how it is all packaged together in this children's picture book. Perfect to read with your littles and take in a great story from history together.

Definitely recommend! 5 star book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

A beautiful biography. This biography is filled with not only information and facts about Maria Mitchell, but also empowering language and contact about the times that Maria lived and worked in. I greatly enjoyed both the writing and illustrations in this book.

It is always good to read an educational children's book that does not seem to be educational. That is, it is so cleverly written that children are most likely not going to realize they are learning some facts and history on first take. This biographical account of Maria Mitchell's claim to fame is just such a one.

Maria's story is told in easily engaging prose, accompanied with fun, attractive illustrations, which decorate each page bringing the story to seeming life. Maria was born and grew up in a Quaker family on Nantucket Island where she found much scope for her brilliantly, inquisitive mind. Quakers encouraged the pursuit of knowledge of the world and to enable ones own choice and independant thinking for boys as well as girls becoming a launching pad for her fulfilling life's work.

Being born in 1818, Maria soon realized that she was like a fish swimming up a torrent of male prejudice outside the Quaker sphere of safety, where the norm was for the females to be kept very well in the kitchen and stitching in the parlor. Maria was patient and pesistant and became famous for being the first female professional astonomer and to engage in several other typically male roles gaining several other firsts, which young readers will discover as they read the book.

I have clearly enjoyed reading about and learning of Maria Mitchell's story especially since it is the first time I recall having heard about her. I sure hope her story motivates and inspires other young girls to pursue with questioning minds what the world is all about and be able to contribute to the world in contructive ways as did Maria.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

February 2022

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.

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