Book by Laura Gehl

Follow Your Dreams

My Thoughts:

I felt so lucky to get to review this book by one of my favorite picture book authors, Laura Gehl. If you haven’t read My Pillow Keeps Moving or I Got A Chicken For My Birthday you will certainly want to pick up a copy.

I’m going to have to admit that distance to the stars, reaching the moon, creating the space station, and much more all seem like science fiction to me. My lack of knowledge in this field makes it difficult for me to comprehend the vastness of space and people’s dreams to explore it. With that being said, this book on Nancy Grace Roman could possibly be in the wrong hands. However, I will readily admit that the text and illustrations caught my attention immediately. My heart didn’t race and I didn’t search for my solar eclipse glasses.

The beautiful book, starting with the cover, captured my curiosity. Who was Nancy Grace Roman? I learned that from an early age she loved space and everything related to it. She overcame weak eyesight and pushed past those who discouraged her from entering the male-dominated field of science and astronomy.

Undeterred the young girl followed her dream and eventually went on to graduate school, always learning and searching for new information and answers to the universe’s many questions. As she grew in prominence Nancy Grace jumped at the opportunity to be the chief of astronomy at NASA. In time, she became known as the “Mother of Hubble,” referring to the Hubble Telescope.

The back matter of this delightful book includes more biographical information about Nancy Grace in the way of an Author’s Note and a timeline of space events.

My thanks to Laura Gehl and Albert Whitman for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The thoughts and opinions offered are not in any way altered by receiving the review copy.

My Concerns:

Absolutely no concerns.

What I Liked Best:

As I mentioned earlier, the text and illustrations flow together to make this book a work of art.

Elementary teachers, librarians, and parents, this is a STEM book you will certainly want to consider adding to your library.

And folks, this book passed the test of pleasing, no, very much pleasing a reader who shies away from the big unknown universe. My thoughts: “Try it! You’ll like it!” (click below)

For those who are too young to remember the advertisement I’m referring to, Click Here.

Teaching Aids:

Aids from the National Science Foundation

Classroom activities McDonald Observatory

About the Author:

I have a B.A. in psychology from Yale and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Georgetown.  I’ve taught reading to little kids and biology to big kids.  But let’s get to the more interesting stuff.

Favorite food: Chocolate.  Not very original, I know, but most people who claim to have a different favorite food are either lying or missing several very important taste buds.
Favorite animals: Do my kids count?  Other than those four wild animals, I really love the baby bunny rabbits that hop into the bushes when I jog past them on the trail near my house.
Favorite children’s books: Waaaaay too many to list.  But “A Birthday for Frances,” “The Perfect Nest,” “The Big Orange Splot,” and “This is Not My Hat” are a few for the picture book crowd.  For older kids, anything by Gordon Korman, Susan Cooper, or L.M Montgomery.




~Let's Share Thoughts~