- Hardcover: 48 pages
- Amazon age Range: 4 – 8 years My suggested age range: 6-10 years
I have never formally studied Marie Curie and so am ashamed to say I had no more than a very basic understanding of her achievements. This book might be aimed at kids but it helped. It is easily accessible for children and Beghelli’s illustrations are clear and engaging. The story paints Marie Curie as just a different kind of superhero from those that children are perhaps more familiar with which is bound to appeal to the littlies and could be a very smart way of hooking them in to non-fiction.
Throughout the story, the viewpoint alternates between that of Marie Curie and that of Nemesis who introduces various minions to aid his cause – Mr Opposition for example is called upon to convince Marie that she shouldn’t learn – only boys are allowed to go to University! The illustrations that accompany Nemesis’ parts are darker – check out those angry eyes! But I don’t think they are too dark for littlies.
I must admit I was surprised by the age guidance for this book. I’m not sure it’ll appeal to many 4 years olds – both content wise and being nearly 50 pages long, but it has been a while since mine were that small so I could well be wrong. In any case, the message of persistence is bound to get through no matter what the age of the reader. I learned lots that I didn’t know about Marie Curie and enjoyed the journey.
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I would like to thank both Net Galley and Sourcebooks Explore for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Lucy Literati 