"I loved it!" Here's what four children thought of their virtual author visit with Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Seemab: I knew it was about science, so I was interested in what we might learn.

Lois: Honestly, I thought I would be bored because I don’t enjoy my science lessons as much as lessons like Art and History.

Teacher: Were you bored?

Lois: No, which surprised me. I didn’t know I could be interested in space science. Dr Maggie explained things in a really easy way to understand, and told us to follow our crazy dream – whatever it may be, which was inspiring to me.

Maleik: When I knew we were going to have an author talk about space, I expected an old man.

Teacher: So you were surprised?

Maleik: Yes, I was. I found it interesting that every culture has been interested in astronomy from ancient times to now, and as a young black person, this really inspired me. Astronomy is for me, too.

Travis: I didn’t know what to expect, but I really enjoyed the talk.

Teacher: What did you enjoy most about the talk?

Travis: I learned loads of interesting facts – like you can sing in space if you have a space suit on, but if you’re in a vacuum you can’t because there would be no air in our lungs.

Lois: Dr. Maggie used props to help us understand the science. She blew up a balloon to explain the big bang, which helped me to understand.

Maleik: When she sang with helium it was funny!

Seemab: Dr Maggie explained about so many different topics which was fun, my favourite was the part about the Mariana Trench – I didn’t know we had places on earth the sun can’t get to. There was so much to take in that I found the video on YouTube afterwards and watched it again at home.

Teacher: Did you enjoy watching it again?

Seemab: Yes as I found there was so much information in the talk that I couldn’t remember everything I wanted to the first time!

Maleik: Dr Maggie was really inclusive of everyone and spoke about women and people of colour making the journey into space which was exciting for me. 

I found it interesting that every culture has been interested in astronomy from ancient times to now, and as a young black person, this really inspired me. Astronomy is for me, too.

Lois: The book is so colourful and the information is in little bits which makes it easy to read, leave and come back to.

Seemab: I like the pictures, too. And the glossary in the back is handy because there are lots of words I don’t know.

Teacher: Do know any new words now?

Seemab: An exo-planet is a planet that’s going around a star that’s not in our solar system.

Maleik: I’ve read up to Chapter 2 and I love the part about black holes.

Teacher: Can you tell me anything about black holes?

Maleik: If you went into one you would get stretched out like spaghetti as you go through the hole.

Seemab: And time slows down, too.

Travis: I like the photographs of the astronauts and the rockets- they look so cool!

Seemab: It was so nice that they were free as well. Things are more expensive now, so getting a book for free was a real treat for me.

Travis: Me too, I think there should be more companies that do free books for children.

The glossary in the back is handy because there are lots of words I don’t know.

Travis: Yes. It was really cool to see an actual author and to be able to ask her questions.

Maleik: Every child should have the opportunity to speak to a professional author because it makes you realise that something you didn’t think you could be that interested in, can actually be really interesting for you.

Teacher: So, was it Dr. Maggie’s passion for astronomy that made you interested?

Maleik: Yeah, you could tell she was really excited to talk to us, which made me excited to listen.

Seemab: I would recommend a BookTrust author talk to all children.

Teacher: Why?

Seemab: Because being able to talk to an author – live – and being able to ask her questions is something that I never thought I’d get to do, and I loved it.

Lois: I would recommend it as I was really interested listening to Dr Maggie, and science is one of the lessons I struggle with, so if I enjoyed it, I’m sure all the other children that struggle in science will enjoy it too.

Lois: Because Dr Maggie was so good at teaching us about space really clearly, I feel more confident in my tricky lessons. I wasn’t expecting to understand a lot but when I realised I did understand, it made me realise that I can ​“get” difficult topics. I don’t think I’ll choose a career in science, but Dr Maggie said that we need to follow our crazy dream- whatever it may be.

Seemab: I am really interested in becoming an astronaut now, and I would love to see the Earth from space.

Travis: Me too!

Maleik: Dr Maggie’s talk has reminded me that I can do anything I want to, if I have a dream and work hard. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up yet, but a scientist is definitely an option!

If you missed out on Dr Maggie’s amazing visit, don’t worry – all the previous virtual author visits are in this handy online library!