Sís, Peter. Starry messenger: a book depicting the life of a famous scientist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physicist, Galileo Galilei. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1996. ISBN: 0-374-37191-1.
Author / Illustrator Website: http://www.petersis.com/index2.html
Media: Detailed Pen and Ink Drawings with Watercolor.
Use of Metaphor: (p. 8) “Italy was a quilt of city states,” (p. 10) “born with stars in his eyes.”
Special Notations: Non-fiction
Curricular Connection: California Science Standards, Grade 5, Standard 5. The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predictable paths. As a basis for understanding this concept: a. Students know the Sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system and is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. b. Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the Moon, the Sun, eight other planets and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets.
c. Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and the planet.
Annotation: Starry Messenger shares the incredible discovery by Galileo Galilei that the sun is the center of the universe. Peter Sis uses detailed artwork to explain Galileo’s work and contributions to science.
Personal Reaction: Peter Sis takes the incredible discovery of a prolific man and shares it with readers through detailed and evocative drawings that capture the life and times of Galileo beautifully. Sis includes minimal text in this book, choosing to rely on illustrations packed full of information. Galileo’s birth is told by way of a large drawing of nearly 100 babies wrapped in blankets (p. 10-11). Each baby’s blanket is decorated with a drawing that depicts the baby’s future line of work; Baby Galileo’s blanket is covered in stars, foreshadowing Galileo’s work studying the stars. The same page offers seemingly handwritten notes about Galileo’s family and the birth of Galileo’s famous contemporary Shakespeare. Every other page in the books contains similar “handwritten” script, often times presented in a spiral shape or as part of an illustration. Sis uses this script to include details from Galileo’s books and work notes, as well as facts about the Italian government and the Church. Starry Messenger is a work of art that contains many facts about the stars, planets and universe documented by Galileo using a homemade telescope. This book is surprisingly informative and could be used as a supplement for fifth grade students studying the solar system.
