Galileo’s Journal,
Written by Jeanne K. Pettenati
Illustrated by Paolo Rui, 31 p.
2006, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge.
9781570918797.
Age Range: 8-12 years of age.
Annotation: Travel back to 1609 and read what Galileo’s journal may have sounded like during a time when he makes amazing discoveries.
Personal Reaction: While this is a fictional account of Galileo’s journal, it is still informative as well as enlightening to what life may have been like for him during a time of scientific discovery. The book starts out with Galileo discovering how to make a telescope by combining two lenses, one concave and one convex together. He calls this his “spyglass”. It continues to show how Galileo discovered that the moon is not perfectly round and smooth as believed, but filled with mountains, valleys, and craters.
Challenging what those have assumed to be true for thousands of years proved to be troublesome for Galileo. He had many people doubt him and call him a liar. Despite this, he refused to give up.
Jupiter’s moons were his next discovery. By using his spyglass, Galileo was able to observe that what he assumed to be stars are always moving around Jupiter, each night in a different place. This all leads him to the monumental idea and discovery that the Earth is not the center of the universe, but rather the sun.
This is a fantastic book to help understand not only Galileo, but to shed light on the scientific revolution as a whole. Pettenati does a fantastic job of mixing mostly factual information with her own fictional thoughts and dialog, but the she insists that the science and settings are in fact true.
At the end of the book, readers will also find a small biography of Galileo. This adds to the book and reiterates the story told. By mixing facts with beautiful illustrations, young readers will most certainly benefit and thrive.
Group project annotation Loryn Amon
7th grade Social Studies Standard
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