Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Neil, Buzz, and Mike go to the Moon
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 7 to 12
Boyds Mills Press, 2005 ISBN: 978-1590782934
This is the story of three boys who dreamed of one day being able to fly airplanes. In the end they went on to do much more than this for Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michel Collins became the first men to walk on the moon. These three were carefully selected to fly an Apollo mission to the moon, to land on the moon, to gather samples, and to then return to Earth.
Of course the three men had to learn a great deal and fly many other missions before they were ready for the moon landing. They had to fly around in a number of vehicles including one which they called the ?Vomit Comet? because it made so many of the trainees sick. They also had to do space walks as part of the Project Gemini program, and to learn how to live and work in a weightless environment.
Then, in 1969, all three were selected to go to the moon on Apollo 11 and history was made when they landed on the moon on July 20th, 1969.
This book is written in such a way that both young readers and older children will be able to enjoy it. The main text is simply written, giving the reader the basic story of the three men who landed on the moon. On most of the double page spreads more information is provided in a side bar which older readers will be able to appreciate. Here the lives of the three men and the projects that they worked on are described in more detail
