Cover Image: Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison

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Member Reviews

Another great book in this series about the first female of color astronaut! I didn't know much about Mae Jemison's background so this was a great read.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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What a spectacular book about a little girl who always knew that she would travel into space!

What I love most about this book is that it makes children aware that there will be those in their journey that will not support them or will try to tell them their dreams aren’t reachable. This is reality.

Mae Jemison was only 5 years old when someone told her that her goal was too hard for her to reach! It gets worse - it was a teacher! Children will read the most beautiful line -”Of course, Mae knew better.” This would be a good place to stop and talk about ignoring negative comments regarding dreams and goals. Ask kids what would have happened if Mae had left school that day and shelved her idea of being a scientist.

I also love that Mae chose to do something about the lack of representation of people of colour in space. Inspired by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, Mae worked towards making history by becoming the first woman of colour to explore space.

Congratulations on a fabulous book about this groundbreaking astronaut!

I was gifted this advance copy by Quarto Publishing Group, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

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The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The ‘My First Little People, Big Dreams’ series provides informative and inspirational biographies about people who left a mark on this earth, no matter what difficulties they have encountered.
These stories are very short, but that’s because they’re books for children, so it’s totally understandable.
I think they are a very smart and wonderful way to introduce little children to such important figures.
In this book here we have the story of Mae Jemison, scientist, astronaut, and the first-ever black woman in space. Her dedication and willpower are to be admired. I'm very happy children have the opportunity to come to know about Mae and her accomplishments.

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This series of books is wonderful series and this one is a fantastic read, introducing a person I hadn’t previously heard of.

Mae is an incredible and inspiring person whose story I found really heartening, especially as it was anew one to me. A story I won’t forget in a hurry.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title.

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Mae Jemison is a very welcome addition to the phenomenal Little People, Big Dreams series. She will definitely fit in well with some of the other scientists and explorers such as Neil Armstrong and Stephen Hawking.
This book is wonderfully illustrated and I particularly loved how stars feature throughout the text. Vegara has chosen a young explorer of colour which will definitely appeal to a wider audience and many of the other people featured in the books are either quite advanced in the years or have deceased.

The timeline at the back of the book is a good reference point for those that wish to learn more about Mae Jemison's achievements.

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Everyone was once a child with a dream. That is why there seems to always be a new person to feature in this series for young children. As usual, this book tells the story of a successful person who had to work their way toward their goals.

Here, readers get to meet Mae Jemison. Young Mae knew that she wanted to travel to the stars. She also understood that no one who looked like her had become an astronaut in real life, even if they had on TV. Well, she became the first and made history. She also did so much before going to NASA, studying engineering and becoming a doctor, volunteering for the Peace Corps and more. Find out about her in this charmingly illustrated latest title by Ms. Sanchez Vegara.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln’s Children’s Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

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