Picture Books for Adventurers and Explorers!

Before Vera Rubin discovered most of the universe, she loved watching the night sky and would fall asleep dreaming of the mysteries she couldn’t see. When she got older, she presented her research at a conference and the male astronomers called her ideas “outlandish”. Their comments only made her more determined to study faraway galaxies that no one was interested in. She made groundbreaking and incredibly significant discoveries that scientists have only recently been able to really appreciate—and she changed the way that we look at the universe.

Chuck Whipplethorp is bored living at his new home on Normal Street. As he unpacks some of the moving boxes, he finds his grandfather’s first bug collection. His dad even tells him that his grandpa discovered a new species of insect! All the talk of his Grandpa’s achievements makes Chuck feel sad at the ways he falls short, but with a little help from his nurturing father, Chuck finds his own source of strength and individuality through creativity.

After a storm, the lights go out and Roger is afraid. But then his aunt Rachel suggests that they take a walk so they can see the beauty of the natural world at night. Roger puts rain gear on right over his pajamas, and together he and Rachel head down the rocky path to the sea. On the way they discover many marvels–a screech owl calling to its mate, ghost crabs tunneling in the sand, and most incredibly, the luminous life that lights up the water.

This book follows that classic conversation among kids: “What will you be when you grow up?” When a young girl goes to her Abuela to ask for advice, her Abuela points to the girl’s heart and says, “Listen”. The girl closes her eyes and listens to her heart, letting her dreams take flight to all the possibilities ahead of her.

When a young girl stares out in to the night sky and notices a star shining brighter than any other, her mom tells her that the star is a supernova. The young girl feels sad for the star that is slowly losing its light, so every night she assures the star that it is not alone. As she grew up, she learned more about the supernova, doing every she could to study the star until one day she stepped aboard a space shuttle and flew far beyond Earth’s atmosphere.