Katherine Johnson: Ready-to-Read Level 3

by Thea Feldman, Alyssa Petersen (Illustrator)

Get to know the woman who made many of NASA’s early missions possible in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series of biographies about people “you should meet!”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!

Genres: Biography, Science, Mathematics, Nonfiction, Space, Childrens, History

48 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 18, 2017

About the author

Based in New York City, Thea Feldman is a prolific writer and editor with over 250 children’s books to her credit. She has collaborated with major publishers, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals. She lives with her cat, Rose, who enjoys lounging on her manuscripts.

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great brief, kid-friendly biography of mathematician Katherine Johnson, who was an instrumental part of NASA. If you've seen the excellent movie Hidden Figures you'll be familiar with the facts shared in this book.
I bought this for my niece who is turning 7, and is at a level 2-3. But as with other level 3 readers in Simon & Schuster's Ready to Read series, I think some of the words and content may be a bit advanced for her. The book delves into segregation, college, the space race between US and the Soviet Union, and mathematical calculations necessary for space travel. It's all handled thoughtfully and appropriately, but for a new reader, tackling both these concepts and words like cosmonaut and aeronautics may be overwhelming. At the risk of underestimating my niece, I think I'll save this one for when she's a more experienced reader.
I also just checked the S&S website which further describes their level 3 as books for "confident readers" who are "looking for a challenge." The parent guide suggest kids make a list of questions as the books are designed to introduce them to new concepts. I think that's certainly true of the two level 3 books in the series that I read.

Update: I recently learned about Lexile ratings, which give a numeric rating on the level of a book’s difficulty. This one is Lexile level 910, which would be sixth grade, so definitely still too advanced for and eight-year-old.

[Summer Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This book is a quick summary of Katherine Johnson's life joruney. In this stroy, Katherine is said to have loved learning, especially math. Her love and desire for math, with family support, lead her to persue a math and eventually become a mathematician. With this she began working with NASA to make strives in the race to the moon.
Evaluation: This book is an easy read that has the power to inspire students. In this story math is being shown in the lime light and has the message that anyone can do great things with the things they love. Katherine did not love math because it was easy, but becaues it was hard and challenging. Many students struggle with math and this story shows that even mathematicians had issues with the subject but with perseverience they mastered the subject.
Teacher Tip: As a teacher, I would use this story as part of a text set to teach about the time period. When teaching about the time of segregations and lack of women rights, it is important to show multiple perspectives. With Katherine Johnson as one of the options, I would have students do research projects on people who influenced the United States behind the scenes.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

Amazing book on Katherine Johnson's life and achievements.

This is a Ready to Read Level Three book, which utilizes difficult sentence structure, challenging vocabulary, and more complex plots.

I really enjoyed this book. It was filled with tons of information, but written in a way that was interesting and engaging. I also loved the empowering message of the book that you can learn anything if you want to.

The writing in the book was very well done. Short chapters helped break up information and interesting illustrations were used in combination with the text.

At the end of the book, there is some more information of star navigation, space, and math related careers. There is also a quiz in the back to test reading comprehension.

Wonderful, wonderful book. Johnson is an inspiring person and a great role model, especially for girls interested in STEM fields.

I just love this series.

[Mary Thom Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and series of “You Should Meet” are wonderful for transitional books. This book specifically about Kathrine Johnson on NASA , tells of her life growing up super smart, during times were black women and women were treated differently. It discusses her great accomplishments and her instrumental work on get man to space. It talks of her determination and her similarities to the students reading it! This book can be applied to the classroom in many different aspects. Ideas can include reading the book for Black History or Women History month. The students can watch the move “Hidden Figures” to enforce and learn more about Kathrine Johnson. It can also be used as a resource to encourage students to create a research paper. These series are great for students beginning to read novels.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tells the story of an important woman in the history of the space program, in the history of women who broke through sexist and racist barriers to do the work she was excellent at. I only wish I liked the treatment better. There is something mildly clunky about explaining what the space program is in parentheses, and certain sentences puzzled me, for instance: "Because of her intelligence, curiosity, and upbeat attitude, Katherine never returned to the group of research mathematicans (sic). She was requested on many special projects." Huh?

So the editing was weak. But the story is essential. Katherine Johnson deserves more meticulous treatment.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katherine Johnson biography in about 40 pages.

This is an easy reader, but at the most advanced level for this series. The vocabulary is pretty challenging, I'd think. The tone is conversational, but gets the story what I think is right except for the line "In 1953, electronic computers were not generally used, so research mathematicians, who were often called 'computers,' did the math that the engineers needed."

This implies that there were computers available to use and people just didn't use them.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

48 pgs. Great book for reports or learning about famous people. This one features a famous mathematician who helped NASA send a man to the moon. Her childhood, education and variety of jobs on the way to making her dreams come true will inspire a reader. I think the book is well-written and contains plenty of facts for use with a school report. Colorful and engaging illustrations. Highly recommended for Grades 3-5.

[Alia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, this is my favorite in the YOU SHOULD MEET series. Well written, interesting and doesn’t shy away from discussing discrimination & civil rights. Katherine Johnson is such an important figure. I will definitely recommend this Level 3 Reader to students.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems like a great series. Simplified and downplayed for beginning readers, but seemed to be pretty honest and not condescending to them.

I also like the extra information about navigation and math in the back, and the little comprehension check.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and informative biography on the life and achievements of Katherine Johnson who worked for the NASA space program from the early 1950's until she retired in 1986. She worked on every NASA space mission among her many accolades.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this whole line of engaging yet short biographies for kids. This one on Katherine Johnson (Hidden Figures) was terrific!

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright, modern illustrations and an easy reader format make this an inspiring choice for beginning chapter readers!

[Josephine Burks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and great length for younger readers.

[Doody · Rating 2 out of 5]

it doesnt let me read the book help pls

[Bethany Stiles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good educational book. But there was so much technical stuff thrown in there I was even lost.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating biography.

[Wanda Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great starter book for my girl, 4th grade, good and accurate history.

[Kaitlyn Shoemaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is biographical nonfiction and for the middle age school group. I really didn't know who she was, but after reading this book I definitely knew who she was! What a smart, and really intelligent young lady! I think she would be a great person for someone to do a book report on, or to do a paper on for a history project.

[Jodi Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

very fun, good for independent read

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katherine Johnson's story is important and timely, and deserves a wide readership. I wish this book had had a little better editing. For example, here is how the text explains "research": "Research means to study materials in order to confirm facts and research new conclusions." I thought "don't use the word to define the word" was common sense. The text also trips over itself a little exposing the dark side of American history: "At the time, the country also had a history of racial segregation." A history? At the time? History in general seems challenging: "The Soviet Union was a former federation of Communist republics..." Do you even need the word "former" here? I'm picky because I want to use this book as a class text, and I really like everything else about it - the colorful illustrations, the generally appropriate level of vocabulary and grammar, and the extra sections in the back.

[Susan A Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering history is important. I love reading the success stories of real people that have overcome the injustices that can occur in life and prospered in-spite of difficult beginnings.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A easy reder style but upper level biography of math whiz and NASA employee Katherine Johnson. Very inspiring and very space orientated. elementary and up

[Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biographical chapter book of the life & contributions of Katherine Johnson.