Kirkus Reviews
"A standout, informative junior biography that celebrates the solar system and self-taught knowledge."
This absorbing short biography explores the life of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the dwarf planet Pluto.
Born to farmers in 1906, Tombaugh and his father and uncle used a Sears telescope to look at the stars in Illinois and Kansas. The budding astronomer, who eventually found Pluto while searching for an imagined “Planet X,” made a better telescope for himself with parts from a Buick automobile. He was eventually hired at the Lowell Observatory because “the observatory was looking for an amateur astronomer willing to work long hours for little pay” in the search for Planet X, which Percival Lowell, the observatory’s founder, was sure existed. Readers are treated to an edifying pastiche of information about the planets, pages from Tombaugh’s observation journals, photographs of Tombaugh and other astronomers, headlines from the New York Times announcing the discovery of Pluto, and much more. Budden ascribes some uncited dialogue to Tombaugh, often using expressions like “HA!” to illustrate his big laugh and sense of humor. The book sticks to the facts and includes plenty of primary sources to provide history and astronomy lovers with visuals, though it doesn’t provide much larger context for early Earthbound space exploration. Addendums provide a glossary, some information about Pluto’s terrain and demotion to dwarf, Tombaugh’s later life, a bibliography (which includes much first-person writing from the subject), and photo credits for all images.
Both informative and entertaining!
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
Needle in a Haystack is a wonderful narrative nonfiction book for all ages! It tells the entertaining story of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the planet Pluto in 1930 in Flagstaff, Arizona. The story is one of growing up in humble surroundings on a farm in Illinois. Clyde had little formal education, but that didn't stop him from persevering to achieve his dream of becoming an astronomer. Diane Phelps weaves a compelling story and fills the pages with inserts of historical photos and sidebars that include educational facts about space. I taught a space unit to my fifth graders every year, and even I learned something from this book! Tanja Baerle's layout and design is masterful and brings all the photos and documents to life with vibrant colors. This book is a must for any child who dreams of going into space and every educator who teaches about it.
Age at time of review - 12
Ever since he was young, Clyde had a big interest in space. His father and uncle had taught him everything they knew about astronomy. Clyde's family owned a farm, but his dream for when he was older was to become an astronomer. Using instructions from a science machine and parts from farm machinery, Clyde built a better telescope than the ones available at the time. Eventually, Clyde got a job at Lowell Observatory as an amateur astronomer. There, Clyde helped with cleaning and was able to observe the sky during his extra time. Eventually, he thought that he had discovered a new planet! But in order to prove his findings, he had to look for distant movements of points of light, which indicate a new planet. This was a very difficult task- almost like finding a needle in a haystack! Will Clyde be able to prove his findings and achieve his dream of making a great discovery in astronomy?
Opinion:
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked how the author started out with Clyde's childhood and explained the reasons why he wanted to study astronomy when he was older. Additionally, I thought the author did a great job of keeping this book interactive and exciting despite it being a non-fiction book. There was a good amount of suspense on whether Clyde would be able to prove his finding or not, which was great. I appreciated how the language used in this book was fairly simple even though the book pertains to astronomy, as this makes it easy for younger audiences to understand as well. Lastly, I liked how informative this book was. There were little blurbs on multiple of the pages which explained things about Clyde's life and his astronomy achievements in more details. Real photographs of him were also used throughout the book. This book was a great read, and I would recommend it to readers of all ages. Particularly, readers who enjoy biographies or learning about astronomy would love this book!