It's a Round, Round World!

by Ellie Peterson, Ellie Peterson (Illustrator)

Overview

We all know the earth is round. But HOW do we know? Join intrepid young scientist-adventurer Joulia Copernicus as she takes readers on a historical journey through time and space. From jumping on board Columbus's ship to planet-hopping in the outer reaches of our solar system, Joulia explains with humor and wit the ins and outs of how we learned that the earth is round.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635921748
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Series:	A Joulia Copernicus Book
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	51 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Ellie Peterson is a middle school science teacher by day, author and artist by night (and any time when doodling can occur). She is inspired to teach readers to question how they know what they know. A good scientist looks at her assumptions before coming to conclusions. She works in watercolors, colored pencils, fine pens, pastels, and digitally. She lives in Washington State with her family.

Editorial Reviews

A Junior Library Guild Selection

★ "An amusing, thought-provoking presentation in which observations and reason lead to a sound conclusion."—Booklist, starred review
​
"This lighthearted addition to the STEM shelf encourages children to question, hypothesize, experiment, and observe."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2019-06-16
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)

Kirkus Reviews