What Miss Mitchell Saw

Beach Lane Books
(Simon & Schuster)

(pub. 9.3.2019) 
40 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Hayley Barrett
     and illustrator: 
             Diana Sudyka

 
C haracter: Maria Mitchell

O verview: 
     "Every evening, year by year, Miss Mitchell stood on her rooftop with her telescope and swept the sky.
       And then one night she saw something no one had ever seen before..."

T antalizing taste: 
     "She made fast friends with stars that shone as if punched into the black with a whalebone needle.
      She knew the stars by name. POLARIS    RIGEL    SPICA
      She observed planets that glowed as steadily as whale oil lamps.
      She knew the plants by name.  MERCURY    VENUS    SATURN
      She marveled at the celestial phenomena that arched overhead like a whale's sparkling splash. 
      She knew the phenomena by name too. ECLIPSE    AURORA BOREALIS      METEOR "
     
And something more: In A Note from the Author, Hayley Barrett says "I live in Massachusetts, so I've been able to visit Nantucket, Maria Mitchell's island birthplace. Wild roses still scent the breeze, the dunes are still dappled with gulls, and ... the Mitchell House ... still feels like a  happy home. The house is a museum now... Every August 1, in celebration of Maria Mitchell's birthday, her royal medal [from the king of Denmark for the discovery of a new comet with a telescope] is put on display there for all to admire."
    And a good activity for these nights -- stargazing!