sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I was looking for a banned or challenged picture book for a reading challenge and this came up in a list online. Now that I've read it, I'm completely baffled as to why anyone would challenge this. An interesting picture book about Ada Byron Lovelace and her contributions to science.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
I've read a number of different works of various sorts on Ada, Countess of Lovelace. This one is a pretty good children's picture book biography. But also seems to be a pretty good book on the subject. As always, it's a choice what the author chooses to focus on. This works focuses more on her childhood then others I remember. Other works indicate that she might not actually have even written the first program for Babbage's machine. But still she is part of the mythos around the origin of programming and certainly did write one of the earliest programs. But also she was on record for predicting what programming was for. All in all a well done book. And the art is pretty good too, though mostly just non distracting.
muuasaki's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful book. I already knew Ada's story, but I'm excited for all the kids to learn about her, too. The illustrations are lovely, so fitting with the period. Also, the costumes and hairstyles have a level of historical accuracy that you usually only see in very well done BBC costume dramas, so to find that in a juvenile biography of a scientist is pretty great.
arantzazureads's review against another edition
5.0
Ada wrote the first computer program, AGES before computing even became a thing. To make her story even more remarkable, you'll learn that she was a teen, she had spent years crippled, and she was a woman in the early 1800s-- all things conspiring against her. But she was smart, eternally curious, had an encouraging parent, and never gave up. I can't think of a better role model for girls today!
This book is beautifully illustrated and written in a way that will engage and inspire kids of many ages.
This book is beautifully illustrated and written in a way that will engage and inspire kids of many ages.
2kimi2furious's review against another edition
4.0
I love this. The illustrations were amazing and not enough people know about Ada Lovelace. I'm glad that this book exists. :)))))))))
readaloud_mom's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Beautiful illustrations complement this biography of Lovelace. I was so happy to be able to hand my young child (who loves math and is very femme-presenting) this book with a protagonist who loved math and was also very femme-presenting!
This is the first Wallmark biography that I stumbled on in the library, and oh, I am so glad I did! My family loves this book in its own right, and it was also a great introduction to the author. In this and her other biographies, Wallmark always acknowledges the barriers of sexism, while also always keeping the joy of mathematics in the foreground!
(The book includes tactful mention of Ada being born into a world of poetry dominated by Lord Byron; that her mother fled with infant Ada; and that Ada grew up not knowing her father. Doesn't go into details, but also pretty clearly suggests that not being around Lord Byron anymore was A Good Thing.
Oh, and my child was totally fascinated by Ada's debilitating bout with measles (including temporary blindness); but YMMV, I could see some young children finding that part disturbing.)
This is the first Wallmark biography that I stumbled on in the library, and oh, I am so glad I did! My family loves this book in its own right, and it was also a great introduction to the author. In this and her other biographies, Wallmark always acknowledges the barriers of sexism, while also always keeping the joy of mathematics in the foreground!
(The book includes tactful mention of Ada being born into a world of poetry dominated by Lord Byron; that her mother fled with infant Ada; and that Ada grew up not knowing her father. Doesn't go into details, but also pretty clearly suggests that not being around Lord Byron anymore was A Good Thing.
Oh, and my child was totally fascinated by Ada's debilitating bout with measles (including temporary blindness); but YMMV, I could see some young children finding that part disturbing.)
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Medical content
shamfeldt's review against another edition
4.0
Bit of a gloss over dad trying to kill mom, good endnotes.
calistareads's review against another edition
4.0
This woman is the daughter of Lord Byron - the poet. Her mother left him when she was young. He was about words and his daughter was about math and science. She loved numbers. We get her history and her love of flying. She wrote the first computer program. It’s funny, my previous job at Math Reviews named a computer program Ada after her and I didn’t know that. Reading this, I’m like, oh, this is the story.
I probably never would have learned the story without these great intro books. Now I know. I don’t want more information, this was just right.
I told my nephew that this was about people who made machines that would eventually lead to the first robot. So he was interested at first and when it was all about numbers and this weird looking machine he felt I lied to him. He couldn’t see a robot at all. He thought this was boring, but the machine was a little interesting. He said using a computer is much faster. He gave this 2 stars.
I probably never would have learned the story without these great intro books. Now I know. I don’t want more information, this was just right.
I told my nephew that this was about people who made machines that would eventually lead to the first robot. So he was interested at first and when it was all about numbers and this weird looking machine he felt I lied to him. He couldn’t see a robot at all. He thought this was boring, but the machine was a little interesting. He said using a computer is much faster. He gave this 2 stars.