Foote Was First!

How One Curious Woman Connected

Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Quill Tree Books

(Harper Collins Publishers)

(pub. 1.13.2026)

40 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: Jen Bryant

and illustrator: Amy June Bates

Character: Pauline Baynes

Overview:

"From a young age, Eunice Foote’s natural curiosity led her to learn more about how the world worked. What makes milk turn to butter? Why can I see my breath when it’s cold? Why are there different kinds of clouds?

By the time she grew up, scientists announced that the Earth was much hotter in the past, and that the warmer temperatures must mean the Earth’s core was the cause. But Eunice thought something else could be at work. Through experiments and tests, Eunice’s curiosity helped her make an important breakthrough: the greenhouse effect."

Tantalizing taste:

" Every summer, American scientists held a meeting where they discussed their experiments and discoveries. But only men were allowed to speak at the meetings! ...

So a friend of [her husband's] presented Eunice's results instead...

Five years later, in 1861, Professor Tyndall would claim that he was the first to show that more carbon dioxide in the air made the earth warmer."

And something more: The Timeline in the Back Matter included: "July 2019. During the 200th anniversary of the birth of Eunice Newton Foote, the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine and Time magazine pay tribute to her work."