Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The First Moon Landing
Illustrator: Gordon Purcell , Terry Beatty
Nonfiction Graphic Novel Series
For ages 7 to 10
Capstone Press, 2006 ISBN: 978-0736864923
When the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space in 1957 many Americans felt let down. They wanted to see their country make a mark in the field of space exploration too. America made its first major space breakthrough in 1961 when Alan Shepherd became the first American and second human to go into space. President Kennedy was keen to see America do something important in what came to be called the “race into space,” and later in 1961, in a speech to Congress, Kennedy expressed his hope that America would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
By December 1968 NASA had managed to get astronauts around the moon and back in the Apollo 8 mission. It was an enormous achievement and it was decided that if Apollo Missions 9 and 10 went well that NASA would attempt a moon landing. Both missions went perfectly and Apollo 11 was scheduled of July 1969.
Thus it was that Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong were ready and well rehearsed when they climbed aboard their spacecraft on July 16th, 1969. Five hundred million people around he world people watched as the Saturn V rocket blasted off at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On July 20th Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon and history was made.
This book will give young readers a very real picture of what took place before, during, and after the historic first moon landing. Readers will see that there was a quite a rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States which drove both countries to try to outdo one another in the “race into space.” An easy to follow text presented in a graphic novel format rich with illustrations makes this the prefect book for readers who prefer books with lots of artwork.
