Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei (Caldecott Honor Book)
By Peter Sís
4/5
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About this ebook
"If they had seen what we see, they would have judged as we judge." -- Galileo Galilei
In every age there are courageous people who break with tradition to explore new ideas and challenge accepted truths. Galileo Galilei was just such a man--a genius--and the first to turn the telescope to the skies to map the heavens. In doing so, he offered objective evidence that the earth was not the fixed center of the universe but that it and all the other planets revolved around the sun. Galileo kept careful notes and made beautiful drawings of all that he observed. Through his telescope he brought the starts down to earth for everyone to see.
By changing the way people saw the galaxy, Galileo was also changing the way they saw themselves and their place in the universe. This was very exciting, but to some to some it was deeply disturbing. Galileo has upset the harmonious view of heaven and earth that had been accepted since ancient times. He had turned the world upside down.
In this amazing new book, Peter Sís employs the artist's lens to give us an extraordinary view of the life of Galileo Galilei. Sís tells his story in language as simple as a fairy tale, in pictures as rich and tightly woven as a tapestry, and in Galileo's own words, written more than 350 years ago and still resonant with truth. This title has Common Core connections.
Starry Messenger is a 1997 Caldecott Honor Book.
Peter Sís
Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, author, and filmmaker. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London. Peter is a seven-time winner of The New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year, a two-time Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honoree, and has won the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal twice. Peter's books, Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, Tibet through the Red Box, and The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain were all named Caldecott Honor books by the American Library Association. The Wall was also awarded the Robert F. Sibert Medal. In addition, Peter Sís is the first children’s book illustrator to win the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. He was chosen to deliver the 2012 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture for the Association for Library Service to Children. Peter won the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. This award is considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People. Peter Sís lives in the New York City area with his wife and children.
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Reviews for Starry Messenger
89 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really liked the book and I love space I just can’t wait until I discover the milky way and the galaxy ☺️ Make more ? so I can read it ????I LOVE SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautiful illustrations. Great biography for kids.
"I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended to forgo their use... He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations." - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The illustrations are beautiful, and the inclusion of text from Galileo's journals, observations, etc, were interesting. However, most of the content is what I remember learning about Galileo in school, in no more detail. I was also frustrated by reading the parts of the text that were in the script font--the letters are tiny and close together, and the words form shapes on the page, causing me to turn the book in all different directions. Kind of cool, but it made reading it tedious for me.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another beautiful book by Sís, this time profiling physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher Galileo, who dared defy the long-held belief that the earth was the centre of the universe, and basing himself on observations through a telescope he had build and improved upon himself, proved that the earth actually orbited the sun. Filled with details about his life and times, from his birth in 1564 (the same year as Shakespeare's own birth and Michelangelo's death), with notes from his journals and his famous treatise from 1610, The Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius), the first scientific treatise to be published based on observations made through a telescope, until his final days, which he spent under house arrest following an church inquisition which found him "vehemently suspect of heresy". Fans of Sís will love this, and it's a good starting point for those not yet familiar with his work.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Very simplistic writing coupled with greatly detailed drawings left us feeling gypped. This book was written to a much younger audience then the illustrations or even the subject would suggest. Thankfully this was a supplement to other reading about Galileo because we gleaned nothing from this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Starry Messenger is a biography of Galileo Galilei. This book does a good job explaining the extraordinary life of Galilei. However, the small print about the wording can be difficult to read. It wouldmost likely be too difficult for basic readers. The book does have artisticly detailed illustrations. Overall, this book had good information, but it may need to be read aloud to students because of the difficulty in the small print.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very nice pictures that hold true to Galileo, it is hard to read some of the writing. Very nice pictures that help show his work about the stars and the world moving around the sun.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book by one of my favorite children's authors is a visual feast of intricate drawings and details on the life of Galileo Galilei. Sis incorporates primary and secondary sources in sharing sometimes very difficult to understand knowledge on the life of Galilei with fluid and detailed drawings. My personal favorite part of the book was incorporating the physical layout of the book into a visceral learning experience by moving the book in a circle to read the inscriptions, hunting for key characters in pictures, and the symbolism in his unique drawing elements. The author does an amazing job of incorporating Galileo's real writings into a fun and interactive book that can engage children's imaginations while also teaching them a good bit of science!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A dreamlike book that captures perfectly the starry eyed drreamer that was Galileo Galilei, the story traces his life from birth to death and is full of interesting facts and information. I found myself wanting to know more once the book was over.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The science and history and art are impeccable, both clearly told and beautiful for children and resonant and beautiful for adults.