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Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
By Helaine Becker, Illustrated by Tiemdow Phumiruk
You’ve likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 moon landing. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?
As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math and about the universe.
From Katherine’s early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, Counting on Katherine is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history. 5-8 years
A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon
By Suzanne Slade, Illustrated by Veronica Jamison Miller
Katherine knew it was wrong that African Americans didn’t have the same rights as others–as wrong as 5+5=12. She knew it was wrong that people thought women could only be teachers or nurses–as wrong as 10-5=3. And she proved everyone wrong by zooming ahead of her classmates, starting college at fifteen, and eventually joining NASA. Her calculations helped pioneer America’s first manned flight into space, its first manned orbit of Earth, and the world’s first trip to the moon! 4-8 years
Reaching for the Moon
By Katherine Johnson
This is the autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11.
As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. But ability and opportunity did not always go hand in hand. As an African American and a girl growing up in an era of brutal racism and sexism, Katherine faced daily challenges. Still, she lived her life with her father’s words in mind: “You are no better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you.”
In the early 1950s, Katherine was thrilled to join the organization that would become NASA. She worked on many of NASA’s biggest projects including the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon. 10 years+
One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Lifelong Mission
By Katherine Johnson, Illustrated by Charmella Pinkney Barlow
Johnson”s own empowering narrative is complemented by the recollections of her two daughters about their mother”s work and insights about how she illuminated their paths, including one daughter”s fight for civil rights and another”s journey to become a NASA mathematician herself. The narrative gracefully weaves together Johnson”s personal story, her influence on her daughters” formative years, her and her daughters” fight for civil rights, and her lasting impact on NASA and space exploration. Filled with personal reflections, exclusive family archival photos, and striking illustrations, readers will be immersed in this deeply personal portrayal of female empowerment, women in STEM, and the breaking down of race barriers across generations. Historical notes, photo/illustration notes, and a time line put the story into historical and modern-day context.
The inspirational tale of Johnson”s perseverance is both intimate and global, showcasing the drive of each generation to push one step further than the last. With its evocative family album-style format and novel approach to storytelling, One Step Further is sure to inspire the next generation of rising stars. 4-8 years
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
By Margot Lee Shetterly, Illustrated by Laura Freeman
Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math…really good. They participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes, and provided the calculations for America’s first journeys into space. Hidden Figures explores the story of four female African American mathematicians who worked at NASA as “colored computers.” This is the story of how they overcame gender and racial barriers to succeed in a highly challenging career. 6-10 years
Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson NASA Mathematician
By Lesa Cline-Ransome, Illustrated by Raul Colón
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or astronauts walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used their knowledge, pencils, adding machines, and writing paper to calculate the orbital mechanics needed to launch spacecraft. Katherine Johnson was one of these mathematicians who used trajectories and complex equations to chart the space program. Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws were in place in the early 1950s, Katherine worked analyzing data at the NACA (later NASA) Langley laboratory. 4-8 years
You Should Meet Katherine Johnson
By Thea Feldman, Illustrated by Alyssa Peterson
Get to know the woman who made many of NASA’s early missions possible in this nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read.
Meet Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician who worked at NASA in the early 1950s until retiring in 1986. Katherine’s unparalleled calculations (done by hand) helped plan the trajectories for NASA’s Mercury and Apollo missions (including the Apollo 11 moon landing.) She is said to be one of the greatest American minds of all time.
A special section at the back of the book includes extras on subjects like history and math, plus inspiring careers for math lovers. With the You Should Meet series, learning about historical figures has never been so much fun! 6-8 years
Katherine Johnson: My Itty-Bitty Book
By Virginia Loh-Hagan Edd, Illustrated by Jeff Bane
The My Itty-Bitty Bio series are biographies for the earliest readers. This book examines the life of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in a simple, age-appropriate way that will help children develop word recognition and reading skills.This book includes a timeline, primary sources, and other informative backmatter. 4-7 years
Katherine Johnson: Women in Science and Technology
By M.M. Eboch, Illustrated by Elena Bia
This is a biography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson for readers in grades 1-3. It covers her childhood, her work for the space program and her passion for STEM education. As a child, Katherine loved to count. She grew into a woman whose math skills helped send people into space. And her work at NASA was critical to the first space flights. Katherine’s successes will inspire children to enjoy math and science. 6-8 years
Hidden Figures, Young Readers Edition
by Margot Lee Shetterly
This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young readers. It is the powerful story of four African American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.
Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country. 9-12 years
The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Johnson
by Devika Jina
In 1969, history was made when the first humans stepped on the moon. Back on Earth, one woman was running the numbers that ensured the astronauts safe return. As a child, Katherine Johnson loved math. She became one of the most important people in the history of space travel. Discover her incredible life story in this illustrated biography with timelines and facts. 7-12 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and/or leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s
Brown Girl Dreaming
By Jacqueline Woodson
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Jacqueline Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. 10 and up
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
By Vashti Harrison
Meet 40 trailblazing women who broke barriers of race and gender to pave the way for future generations. This book brings to life both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history including: abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, and poet Maya Angelou. 8-11 years
Thurgood
By Jonah Winter, Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Thurgood Marshall was a born lawyer–the loudest talker, funniest joke teller, and best arguer from the time he was a kid growing up in Baltimore in the early 1900s. He would go on to become the star of his high school and college debate teams, a stellar law student at Howard University, and, as a lawyer, a one-man weapon against the discriminatory laws against black Americans. After only two years at the NAACP, he was their top lawyer and had earned himself the nickname Mr. Civil Rights. He argued–and won–cases before the Supreme Court, including one of the most important cases in American history: Brown v Board of Education. And he became the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice in history. 5-9 years
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
By Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Eric Velasquez
Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music and art from Africa and the African diaspora. He wanted to bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house, he turned to the New York Public Library. He created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of the new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world. 9-12 years
Young, Gifted and Black:
Meet 52 Heroes from the Past and Present
By Jamie Wilson, Illustrated by Andrea Pippins
Young, Gifted and Black introduces historic and present-day icons and heroes. Meet figureheads, leaders and pioneers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks as well as cultural trailblazers and athletes like Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey and Serena Williams. Strong, courageous, talented and diverse, these extraordinary men and women’s achievements will inspire a new generation to chase their dreams. 9-12 years
28 Days: Black History That Changed the World
By Charles R. Smith, Illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Each day features a different influential figure in African-American history. Young readers will learn about Crispus Attucks, the first man shot at the Boston Massacre, Madame C.J. Walker, who after years of adversity became the wealthiest black woman in the country, Barack Obama, the America’s first African-American president and many more important men and women. 6-10 years
Heroes of Black History: Biographies of Four Great Americans
By The Editors of Time for Kids
This book presents the stories of four great American heroes every child should know. In one volume children will learn about Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, and Barack Obama. Heroes of Black History shines a light on the long fight for social justice in the United States as it highlights the accomplishments and personal histories of these four pivotal Americans. 8 and up
Let the Children March
By Monica Clark-Robinson, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
I couldn’t play on the same playground as the white kids.
I couldn’t go to their schools.
I couldn’t drink from their water fountains.
There were so many things I couldn’t do.
In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hatred, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world. 6-9 years
Hidden Figures:
The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
By Margot Lee Shetterly, Illustrated by Laura Freeman
Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math…really good. They participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. They provided the calculations for America’s first journeys into space. They did this at a time when being black and a woman limited their options. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius to change the world. 4-8 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author