Customer Reviews

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover))

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The astronauts have practiced their roles many times as has everyone who had anything to do with Apollo 11. In Launch Control near the rocket in sunny Florida they are ready. In Mission Control all the way over in Houston they are ready. Everyone around the world is watching. People are glued to their television sets anxiously awaiting liftoff. Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin are going to take "their two small spaceships," the Columbia and Eagle to the moon and back. 10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ...

"... high above
there is the Earth,
rushing oceans, racing clouds,
swaying fields and forests.
Family, friends, and strangers,
everyone you've ever known,
everyone you might--
the good and lonely Earth,
glowing in the sky."

This is the BEST book on the flight of Apollo 11 I've seen for this age group. The flowing text and the stunning art work mesh perfectly to generate the mood of the flight and that of the generation it occurred in. For example, when the mood is quiet, the text is light, set against a white background and the art work is small and the atmosphere mellow. When the story gets exciting or busy both the text and art work explode with excitement. LIFTOFF! The front end pages are fully illustrated with everything from the rollout to the Saturn Launch Vehicle and the Apollo Spacecraft! In the back is more information on this story. Be prepared for a lot of exiting reading with this book!

I consider myself a person of at least average intelligence. I know how to hold down a job. To feed and clothe myself. And when it comes to historical events I tend to think that I know most of the pertinent details. Take the original moon landing of Apollo 11 as one such example. Sure, I knew that the folks on the ship were "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong. I knew it was a flight filled with close calls and near catastrophes (thank YOU Team Moon by Catherine Thimmesh!). And I knew those guys got back. Slap your hands together, end of story. But I guess... I dunno. I hate to admit this but I don't think I ever really had a great visual sense of how it all worked. Should I? Is that required of every fine upstanding American citizen? Maybe not, but how can you really get a sense of the moon landing if you don't know what it looked like? To the rescue comes Brian Floca with Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11. Essentially Brian has written a book that works for every human being between the ages of 4 to 104 (sorry, 105-year-olds). Poetic, scientifically accurate, interesting, mesmerizing, you name it. The man has penned a little old masterpiece here, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. You've lots of space flight picture books to choose from this year, but if I had to pick just one for my children's library shelves, it would be this. A masterpiece of innovation (and the moon landing's not to shabby either).

"We choose to go to the Moon," said President Kennedy. So to the moon we went. With simple text, Brian Floca shows us the steps leading up to that first walk. Equipment is secured. The three astronauts have said goodbye. They lock into their seats, the countdown begins, and ROAR. They're off. Covering everything from how astronauts eat and sleep, to other bodily functions, we finally see the men on the surface of the moon, considering the sky as the people at home cheer. Safely returned, the final shot is of a family who has watched it all on television, running beneath the moon, knowing that the heroes have returned, "To warmth, to light, to home at last." Sources are listed on the title page. Endpapers illustrate the moon landing at the front of the book, and give additional information with words alone at the end.

We all know that Brian's a phenomenal artist. No arguments there. Has he ever really gotten proper credit for his writing, though? The nice thing about this story is that at 48 pages, Floca has time to build the tale with simple words and quiet repetition. The very first thing you read when you open it up is "High above there is the Moon, cold and quiet, no air, no life, but glowing in the sky." This phrase is repeated several times in the book, the strange foreign aspects of the moon countered by its comforting glow. Floca has taken time to give weight and meaning to this event. It's more than just a technical achievement. It's the fulfillment of a species' hopes and dreams.

His illustrations too capture the excitement of the event and, to a certain extent, the sheer vast loneliness of going there. In one shot we see Neil looking up at the sky in wonder. The next shot and you're far behind the astronauts, but still on the surface of the moon. The sky is without stars and the earth hangs there, half in darkness. Says the text, "... high above there is the Earth, rushing oceans, racing clouds, swaying fields and forests. Family, friends, and strangers, everyone you've ever known, everyone you might - the good and lonely Earth, glowing in the sky." I love that pairing there, that "everyone you've ever known, everyone you might."

Let no one tell you that watercolors are dull. Admittedly Floca works with a variety of materials, including ink, acrylic, and gouache, but his watercolors are what you remember. On top of that, you remember his choices of how to portray various scenes. For example, early on there are dramatic shots of the liftoff, where the only thing seen is the rapidly disappearing shuttle, viewed only through the rockets. This view then peels back with another turn of the page, and you're far away, watching a small rocket shooting up white-hot and yellow, dirty clouds billowing far beneath. Later the moon fills up an entire page (which in a book that's 11.8 inches by 10.6 inches is no mean feat) and we have the awe of seeing the rocket approach its sheer mass. Many of these shots are contrasted with images of a family back on the earth. This family actually plays a role in most of the book. They are featured on the title page, staring up into the sky (the dad looking suspiciously similar to the artist himself). They center the book. Ground it. Give you a sense that this isn't some high-tech incident of the past, but a moment that all people could relate to and wonder at.

Consider too Floca's use of white space. There's a lot of it here, though when I close the book all I can remember are the shots that fill the pages. But at first, anyway, people do their work against a pure unpainted background. Earth, it seems, is where is there lurks white space. Space, on the other hand, is just a sea of black. The changeover really occurs when you get to the six panel two-page split of the countdown. I can suddenly see in this portion how you could read this section aloud with a child, ratcheting up the tension, until that moment the rocket is released and bursts into the sky. Yee-haw!

I was with some librarians the other day, and one of them happened to mention a particular non-fiction picture book pet peeve they have. We were considering a book (not this one) and we noticed that pertinent information was missing from the text, but then explained away in the very adult Afterword. My co-worker lamented this kind of lazy writing. If a non-fiction picture book doesn't make sense on its own without the Afterword then it really isn't a successful piece of writing. I tend to agree, particularly after reading Moonshot. The storyline inside makes sense without explanation. But Floca has added additional information on the endpapers for those kids (and, let's face it, adults) who want to know a little more about the behind-the-scenes action. Mind you, you don't need these endpapers to make sense of the book, but they add to the overall reading experience. Better still, Floca makes the front endpapers very visual, with pictures of how each of the segments of the Apollo broke off, reattached, broke off again, reattached, again, and generally brought the astronauts to and from the moon. The stuff I've never really comprehended has now been illustrated in such a way that even a five-year-old could understand. No mean feat.

Astronaut books for the younger set come and go, but this one's definitely here to stay. Consider pairing it alongside Meghan McCarthy's fabulous Astronaut Handbook for yet another simply worded but well-researched peek into the far reaches of outer space. This is a book that can appeal to small fry, as well as older and more seemingly mature siblings. Visually breathtaking with a poetic turn of phrase, Moonshot elevates a moment in history that cannot be lauded enough. If nothing else it makes one thing clear: Boy, that moon landing was cool!

I just received it tonight and read it to my 4-year-old son, who interrupted several times per page to ask questions. ("How did people on Earth know the astronauts had landed?") The front endsheet has technical information and drawings. The back endsheet has lots of prose for the grown-ups to fill in their history. The pages in between are works of art.

If you were to ask anyone who lived during the 1940's, they would be able to tell you exactly what they were doing the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. If you were to ask anyone who lived during the 1960's, they would be able to give you specific details of what their day was like when John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. Some moments in history are so significant, their memory and any memories associated with them, remain long after they occur. For my generation, I have a feeling 9/11 will be such a memory. I was in my dorm room sound asleep, until a friend from across the hallway burst through the door and ordered me to turn on the television. I remember campus wide prayer groups and people walking around in a daze.

MOONSHOT by Brian Floca depicts such an event. It tells the story of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the men who were the first to step foot on the moon. Told through verse and supported with incredible illustrations, MOONSHOT begins by introducing the reader to the astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. The story moves quickly through the launching of the rocket, to eventually show the astronauts' time spent in space and on the moon, and ends with their safe return home.

MOONSHOT is a work of art. The illustrations are simply amazing. Floca's attention to detail puts the reader in the shoes of not only the astronauts that went on this mission, but the people of the country at that time, watching this incredible event unfold. The inside cover is a series of illustrations that label the rocket ship and the various stages involved in the deployment of the rocket. There are so many aspects of this mission that I had never given thought to: The different parts of the rocket ship that break away and propel them further and further into space and eventually, bring them home . . . The fact that Collins had to turn Columbia around to initially connect with Eagle, then stayed onboard Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin took Eagle to the moon's surface . . . To three weeks of quarantine for the astronauts upon their return to Earth. I was not alive in 1969, but after reading this picture book, I definitely feel a smidge of the magic that the country must have felt at that time.

Most often with picture books, the illustrations take center stage. MOONSHOT isn't necessarily an exception to the norm, but the text is powerful enough to stand on its own. The description of the massive Saturn V rocket ship is great and Floca's word choice as it climbs into the sky is terrific: "It climbs the summer sky. It rides a flapping, cracking flame and shakes the air, and shakes the earth, and makes a mighty ROAR." In fact, there are instances where Floca's illustrations are enhanced because of the text. For instance in his description of Columbia and Eagle: ". . . and releases Columbia, which was the rocket's tip, and also Eagle, hidden till now, a stranger ship, more bug than bird, a black and gold and folded spider." I love the comparison of Eagle to a "bug" or "spider" instead of a "bird" (or "eagle").

I've never written a review of a picture book, but after experiencing MOONSHOT, I couldn't help but share my feelings. I've never seen a picture book so detailed and exact, in both illustrations and text. Brian Floca has beautifully given new meaning to this monumental event. The simplicity of his language and the precision in his pictures all make for such a visually enjoyable and informative read. One that I highly recommend!

I work in space exploration and I really enjoyed reading this book to my 4 year old. It held his attention all the way to the end. After I closed the book he asked me "If I grow up to be an astronaut, will there still be places that no one has been?" It made me feel great to tell him that yes, there would always be places that no one has ever been, and that we were really only just getting started on the journey.

This book was given to my children as a gift, and as the mother of a 5 year old who is avidly interested in nasa and space, I have read many, many children's books about space. This is, without question, the most beautifully written and illustrated one you will find. It is filled with the factual information kids crave, but is told in a way that is almost hypnotic - its text makes you feel like you are there in the cockpit with the astronauts, it is so rich with sensory information. The illustrations are accurate, but pleasing to look at - with plenty of detail, but not overwhelming. This is such a wonderful book, a great gift - I am planning to gift a copy to the school library at my son's elementary school.

I just read it to my 4 year old in the library. The story, the writing, the drawings, the very nature of space travel and rockets drew him in. All the facts are correct, e.g. that Aldrin was really busy reading data to Armstrong during landing, that they almost ran out of fuel, that stars couldn't be seen (due to the Moon's brightly lit landscape).

Our 3 year-old son picked out this book and we all love it. The book is poetic, dramatic, and all around beautifully written. The author is able to simultaneously evoke the beauty of a historical moment (the Apollo 11 mission), the excitement of incredible technology, and the wonder and mystery of our awesome planet and its moon. Highly recommended for all audiences.

Intended for young readers ages 4-7, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 recounts the enthralling true story of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and the men who made history by walking on Earth's moon. The text reads easily, like a simple free-verse poem, and the color illustrations bring to life the nuances of adapting to work and travel in space. "Here where everything floats, / it takes some skill to eat a meal. / That ham salad sandwich? Watch the crumbs! / Soup? It comes in a bag, dry as dust. / Fix the bag to the water gun, fill it, mix it, stir it up. / Cream of chicken - not too bad! / (Better than the peanut cubes.)" Highly recommended for any young reader intrigued by the true story of real-life space travel.

I'm one of those people who is very concerned about the deplorable public education system in the United States and the continuing erosion of the nation's scientific and technological resources: e.g., trained people.

It is my opinion that public education spends too much time on subjects such as diversity, self-esteem, making boys more like girls and other nonsense and not enough time on turning out truly educated children. Certainly not a lot of kids, despite their involvement with cell phones, video games and computers, have any interest in the science and technology underlying those devices. The same is not true in Asia and some parts of Europe.

Moonshot is a marvelous book for young children.

It describes the flight of Apollo 11, the first moon landing mission.

The language of Brian Floca is lyrical and perfectly suited to dramatic reading. The illustrations, all based on photographs of the events are beautifully done. While there is little actual scientific or technological information in the book, it is filled with a sense of adventure and awe at what science and technology made possible.

My six year old grandson had me read this to him two nights in a row. (What higher compliment can a six year old give to author Floca?) I've shared my videos of the entire space program with my grandson and he seems at least mildly interested in understanding how it all works. Hopefully his interest will grow in coming years, despite his going to public schools.

"Moonshot" is a marvelous book for young children. It is unabashedly heroic. It celebrates, indirectly, a pride in the United States. It subtly evangelizes science and technology. It is a beautiful piece of work.

Jerry