Comet Chaser

Author:

Pamela Turner

Illustrator:

Vivien Mildenberger

Published by:

Chronicle Books

First Published:

11 Apr 2024

Ideal for readers age

6-9y

My Review

So beautifully illustrated, and poetically told, this is the story of Caroline Herschel's journey from homebound daughter-come-servant to a career in astronomy. Stunning watercolours of the sky and the powerful metaphorical ending of the book in which the author proclaims 'Let whatever shines be noted' combine to make this book an outstanding celebration of the incredible potential of people who wonder at the world: Caroline Herschel and her brother, the story tells, were simply playing at Astronomy in their back garden, unaware that the telescope they had created was the most powerful in the world, until the day that they discovered Uranus.

It's a story that will inspire children - and girls especially - to follow their hearts, to look up, and to realise the incredible secrets that science and maths can unveil.

Heads Up!

Vivien Mildenberger has illustrated other brilliant science related biographies - have a look at 'All In A Drop', a chapter book biography of Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek, who invented the microscope.

Publisher Review

The real-life Cinderella story of the very first professional woman astronomer-Caroline Herschel! Comet Chaser is the thrilling and beautifully illustrated biography of a woman who made a lifetime of incredible contributions to science. She was the first woman to discover a comet, the first officially recognized in a scientific role, and the first to be given a Gold Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. In a day when girls were barely educated at all, Caroline Herschel's father taught her math and music . . . until, suddenly, he died. Her mother saw her as little more than a household servant. Caroline might have been doomed to a life of drudgery and dimness if not for her brother, who took her from Germany to England. There they started building telescopes in their free time, gradually making them larger and larger, and discovering new comets-even new planets! When the great astronomers of the day wondered how Caroline and her brother accomplished this and came to see for themselves, they found that the Herschels had made the best telescopes of their time.