GIRL POWER! A COMPUTER CALLED KATHERINE

 The recent and highly successful ARTEMIS II flight around the Moon, traveling farther into space with human occupants than any prior space flights, holds other important records. The first, off course, is that distance. The pilot, Victor Glover, is the first Black astronaut to travel to the Moon, whileJeremy Hansen is the first Canadian astronaut to participate in Moon flight. But one of the four astronauts receiving well-earned attention is Christine Koch, mission specialist. She already held records for participating in the first all female space walk, and is now the first woman astronaut to travel on a Moon mission. 

The records will continue to be lauded, as they should be. The wave forward for female astronauts was launched decades earlier, but this acceleration in space travel and Moon exploration means that such FIRSTS are going to continue, followed by more and more diversity and perspectives as we proceed. 

The best part of this is the full visibility of the members of the crew. In the earlier years of NASA's development, astronauts represented "The RIGHT STUFF", meaning prototypical white men, of a particular age, body type, background, and training. Others, though, were behind the scenes. HIDDEN FIGURES was first an adult nonfiction success, then a terrific movie, and also a picture book for young readers. There is now a youth version of the adult book, too.

The above documentation of the team of Black women whose math skills were so extraordinary as to be the basis of every NASA attempt that their job title was "COMPUTER". Much has been made about the fact that those various successful missions, including the Apollo program, were achieved with tiny fractions of available computer power that we now carry around in our phones. When that statement is made, what is not mentioned is the necessity to have utter accuracy and predictability with the intricate calculations behind trajectories and computations for fuel, thrust, adjustments to angles, and countless other data fully figured, tested, and insured by the human brains of that all female  (Black) team of COMPUTERS. 

LITTLE, BROWN, and COMPANY, 2019

HIDDEN FIGURES gave  KATHERINE, of A COMPUTER CALLED KATHERINE, the credit due her. Even so, this new picture book is a worthy and important account of her unique and essential contributions she made. Written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison, the subtitle is: 

HOW KATHERINE JOHNSON HELPED PUT AMERICA 

ON THE MOON.

The account of Katherine's early success in school, especially as a mathematician and scientist, make her unique computing skills clear. This story reveals how the integration of mathematics with physics and calculus and trigonometry combined with the alchemy of her personality to make her an essential element in the countless steps assuring success for the plans. 

I admired Katherine since first learning about her (far too late!). Reading this terrific new picture book lets readers of many ages, even quite young ones, learn about Katherine and can  find themselves in her story, in the best possible ways. End papers show various math diagrams and equations as if on chalkboards. I was also enough of a math kid (everywhere she went, she counted.) to see how many of those I recognized and related to curves and angles and patterns of force. She grew up counting, recognizing relationships and measures and numbers in what can apparently be to be a disorganized world.

Katherine was only one of the many math-women recruited to work (in a segregated building) on the nearly endless computations and calculations, validations and corrections needed to move many tons of materials off the gravitational pull of the earth and into space. To keep it on the intended track, and to realize PRECISELY what to do and and how to it to assure its safe return. 

Like those rocket lifters, she rose from among the pool of gifted and tireless computer-women to ask the right questions, clarify what information was needed, and plot the courses that should be followed from take-off to landing. The number of people responsible for countless details to apply her calculations was enormous, but everything hinged on her being right.

Back matter includes both author and illustrator notes. There I learned that this is the debut picture book for the illustrator, and she knocked it into orbit!

As one of her quotations so perfectly states in the closing pages, 

"Girls are capable of doing everything boys are capable of doing."

And I'll paraphrase lines that suits her so well and open the profile... Katherine counts!

THIS IS A SCHOOL! (Don't miss this one!)

 My professional years in public schools involved working in a major metro system with hundred-plus schools and a small suburban district with only FOUR schools in all. The differences could fill a book, not a blog post. In recent years with charter choices, Covid remote learning, and mandated social distancing, masks, and dividers, traditional assumptions about "school" have been transformed. Add to that the absurd intrusions of politics and demands into choices about funding, book inclusion (or censorship), and topics for instruction (or exclusion), and it's about time to ask, 

What is a school? 

CANDLEWICK PRESS, 2022

John Schu provides his answer in a recent picture book, THIS IS A SCHOOL. As you can see from illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison's cover (and interiors support this approach), this suggests a very traditional brick-and-mortar, in-person definition for "school". Within that context, the people and scenes pictured will feel familiar to those returning to a physical school. For those who have not yet been able to attend a physical school, this introduction presents a warm welcome in scenes populated by diverse peers, adults, and community members who suggest safety and support. 

The text and transitions are as concise and potent as haiku poetry: Concrete details expand the essential to universal applications and concepts in a wide range of lives and experiences. 

For example:

"This is a kid.

This is a kid in a class.

This is a class in a hall.

This is a hall in a school.

WELCOME!" 

With transitions to what school IS beneath all that:

"We ask.

We learn.

We share.

We help."

This simple approach extends out to the families, community, and the purpose of "school": 

Look, listen, learn.    

The last page/single-line is at the heart of SCHOOL. And at the heart of a child's life. It's a message that is simple, direct, and applicable to any and every location and shared learning space. 

Stay tuned for more picture books from John Schu, an experienced school librarian, field expert for Scholastic Books, and committed literacy expert. In March 2023, THIS IS A STORY arrives on the scene and can be preordered now. To learn more about it, check HERE.

THIS IS A SCHOOL (and later, THIS IS A STORY) will make welcome gifts for teachers and families to begin and wrap up the school year. I hope you'll take a look and agree.