July 1, 2019
In a confident first-person narrative, young scientist Joulia Copernicus debunks the story that Columbus "proved Earth is round." Informing readers that Columbus knew this fact, and so did most people of his time, Joulia also points out that "Ancient Greek, Islamic, and Indian scholars theorized that Earth was round WAY before Columbus's time." Confident Joulia explains how Columbus, shown as a haughty captain in the humorous, cartoon illustrations, and his fellow mariners confirmed Earth was round by discerning "that when ships sail away from you, they seem to disappear from the bottom. When they sail toward you, they appear from the top. On a flat Earth, you'd see the entire ship the entire time." The accompanying illustrations, almost like animation cels, provide the visuals readers need to confirm these assertions. Joulia also turns to astronomy. A lunar eclipse is the highlight of a double-page spread with a large yellow sun, a personified blue and green Earth wearing sunglasses, and the moon moving in iterations through the Earth's shadow. This shows readers that the Earth's shadow is "ROUND!" Joulia has straight, brown hair and pale skin and is almost always the only human in any given illustration. It's great to see a young woman scientist, but it's too bad there's not more diversity around her. Two experiments stimulate further exploration. This lighthearted addition to the STEM shelf encourages children to question, hypothesize, experiment, and observe. (Informational picture book. 6-9)
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Starred review from September 15, 2019
Grades 2-4 *Starred Review* Young Joulia Copernicus, dressed in a white lab coat and safety glasses, sets out to show readers How we know the earth is round. Debunking the notion that Columbus set out to prove it, she points out that it was already common knowledge. When a ship sailed toward port in 1492, people on land could see that the sails came into view before the hull, which would not happen on a flat surface. Other clues? During a lunar eclipse, Earth casts a shadow on the moon and that shadow is round. Also, if the Earth were flat, people in both hemispheres would see the same constellations in the night sky. And today, photos of Earth taken from space show a round planet. Logical in approach and buoyant in tone, this intriguing picture book guides readers through the evidence. Peterson, a middle-school science teacher, makes her points clearly in both the text and the imaginative artwork. Her colorful, thought experiment illustrations help viewers visualize concepts imaginatively, while the two appended activities encourage kids to do their own hands-on explorations. The large-scale images make this picture book an effective read-aloud choice for the classroom. An amusing, thought-provoking presentation in which observations and reason lead to a sound conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)