Published by Enchanted Lion Books

Summary:  As a young boy growing up in Missouri, Edwin Hubble was fascinated by the stars.  When his grandfather gave him a telescope for his eighth birthday, he eschewed birthday cake in favor of looking at the stars.  His strict father prohibited him from studying astronomy in college, but happily for the history of science, said father died in 1914, and Edwin was able to quit teaching high school and go back to school.  He set himself to work on the problem of nebulae like Andromeda: were they within the Milky Way galaxy, or separate galaxies themselves? His discovery, which built on the research of Harvard astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, showed that they were separate galaxies, revealing that the universe was bigger than previously thought, and that it was expanding.  Edwin helped to create the Hale telescope and was the first to use it in 1949; he was honored with the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990.  Includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, additional information about Hubble’s research, and a bibliography listing three sources.  52 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  There don’t seem to be other picture book biographies of Hubble, and this one does a nice job, emphasizing Edwin’s inquisitive mind, clearly explaining the difficult concepts he was researching, and showing the wonders of the universe through the black-sky illustrations.

Cons:  A timeline would have made this a more useful research book.