Katherine Johnson is the mathematical genius who helped make the historic Apollo 11 moon landings possible and made sure that Apollo 13 returned home safely when the mission was in critical danger.

As a child, Katherine loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about maths, about the universe . . .

Helaine Becker interviewed Katherine and her family for this authorized biography. From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the true story of a groundbreaking African-American woman who went above and beyond what was expected of her in the 1960s, saving lives and making enormous contributions to history. Featuring Dow Phumiruk's gorgeous full-colour illustrations throughout.

This book has been graded for interest at 5-7 years.

This book was published 2019 by Pan Macmillan .

Dow Phumiruk trained to be a pediatrician, before finding her passion in children's book art. Her favourite subjects are children (especially girls) and animals. She lives in Lone Tree, Colorado with her husband of over 2. 5 decades, three artistic daughters, one dwarf rabbit, one hamster, one tiny frog, and a really cool bearded dragon named Sparkles. Dow also enjoys fast and furious sewing projects and limited hiking and biking. Helaine Becker is an award-winning children's author. She has written over seventy books, including the #1 Canadian National Bestseller, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.