Peter Sís rightfully won the Caldecott for his beautifully illustrated book, Starry Messenger. Told in a simple narrative perfect for children, the story of the life of the scientist, astronomer, mathematician, physicist and philosopher Galileo is illustrated with incredible detail and imaginative, dramatic layouts. A fine crosshatching technique over handsome watercolor washes and hand drawn cursive words accompanying the pictures go well with celebrating ideas about acute observation. Galileo's path of study, invention and discovery is touched upon in highlights including the first ever sightings of four moons of Jupiter he named the Medicean Stars and his Law of Falling Objects which proved Aristotle wrong about velocity. His book, the first Starry Messenger, was very popular, and his fame and celebrity spread upsetting the Catholic Church resulting in an inquisition before the Pope. Galileo was found guilty of heresy for saying the earth was not the center of the universe and condemned to spend the rest of his life locked in his house. He never stopped thinking about stars and the universe, and even after going blind he continued to pass his ideas along to others. One of his many quotes in the book reads, "I think that in discussion of physical problems (Nature) we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages, but from sense-experiences and necessary demonstrations."
