All in a Drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World

When Lori was a kid she liked rainy days because they gave her time to make books. Back then that meant she made books with fancy covers, main characters dressed in glitter, and bad dudes with button eyes. She would fasten the books together with hair ribbons or barrettes. Now she states that her favorite magnified items are snowflakes, the bumpy surface of a cat’s tongue, and Velcro being pulled apart. There is not a lot of information at her website https://www.lorialexanderbooks.com/ but she does invite young people to contact her. Her 2nd book for this age is the story of how the Paralympic games were created.

This is the author’s first biography so it would be interesting to have 6th-8th graders examine the craft and structure of this book-- what features of biography are included, what she did to keep them engaged as readers, techniques used when writing biography that they could also use. It is also the illustrator’s first chapter book so students should also explore how the illustrations enhance the narrative.

This book explains the process this curious genius, who was not a scientist, used for discovering microbes It is a good text to pair with that topic in science. I believe this book will need an effective book talk to get middle school students engaged. I would begin a book talk by reading aloud pages 48/49. These pages should get them hooked.

The story of Antony van Leeuwenhoek begins in a time when people believed that what they could see with their eyes was all that existed in the world. While he did not invent the microscope, van Leeuwenhoek painstakingly designed microscopes that allowed him to see things no one had seen before. Students will relate to him because he was a draper, not a scientist. Yet his curiosity drove him to discover things no scientist had ever discovered. Because he was not a scientist his discoveries were scorned by the Royal Society. This scorn did not deter him, and for all of his life Antony continued his discoveries. His story unfolds in 10 short, captivating, and informative chapters. However, the back matter is also important and a careful study of the back matter will enable students to meet numerous reading information standards.

This book received the Sibert Honor Award for outstanding nonfiction for 2019.

Teaching Points: STEM, Inventions, Persistence, Microbiology, Source of interesting facts

Pathways Themes: Heroes, Yesterday

Reviewed by Krystal Bishop, EdD

Professor of Education

Southern Adventist University

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