Hans Lippershey

Hans Lippershey was a German-Dutch spectacle maker who is widely credited with the invention of the telescope.

Reads at Pre-K Listens at Pre-K–1

Print & create

Answer keys·No prep·Free with an account

Storypie Plus

Every printable for Hans Lippershey. And every other topic.Every printable for Hans Lippershey.Every printable, every topic

· Pre-K · PDF

Then $4.17 a month · Cancel anytime

28 worksheets · answer keys · full story · quiz · Ages 3-5 · CEFR A1

Plus adds 164,000+ more stories in 27 languages, audio for every one, and printables for all of them.

Just want Hans Lippershey?

For your classroom

Free through Jan 3 with a homeschool space, no card.

Teachers? Free Class Tools Start free through Jan 3, no card

The story

Hans Lippershey: The Man Who Made Things Look Closer

Hello! My name is Hans Lippershey. A long time ago, I was a spectacle-maker. That's a fancy word for someone who makes eyeglasses! I loved working with glass. I would grind and polish pieces of glass called lenses to help people see things more clearly.

One day in my shop, around the year 1608, I was playing with my lenses. I held one lens up to my eye, and then I held another one a little bit in front of it. Wow! I looked through both lenses at a church tower far, far away. Suddenly, the faraway tower looked super close, as if I could reach out and touch it! Everything that was small and distant looked big and near. It was like magic!

I was so excited! I put my two special lenses inside a tube to make them easy to hold. I called my new invention a 'kijker,' which means 'looker' in my language. People loved it! Soon, everyone wanted a 'looker' to see things far away. They started calling it a telescope.

I lived a full life making things that helped people see the world in new ways. My invention helped other clever people look up at the night sky and discover new things about the moon and stars. The next time you see a telescope or a pair of binoculars, you can remember me and my surprising discovery!