The First Moon Landing

by Thomas K. Adamson, Gordon Purcell (Illustrator), Terry Beatty (Illustrator)

Overview

Tells the story of the Apollo 11 mission, including the first moon landing in 1969. Written in graphic-novel format.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780736896542
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2006
Series:	Graphic History
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	152,517
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Thomas K. Adamson has written dozens of nonfiction books for kids on sports, space, math, and more. He lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with his wife and two sons. He likes reading and playing ball with his boys. He also likes to check scores and stats on his phone.

Table of Contents

The space race — To the moon — One small step — National heroes.

Editorial Reviews

This addition to Capstone's Graphic Library series presents the drama of the first moon landing, complete with authentic astronaut-mission control talk and detailed illustrations, and a map at the back showing the locations of the six moon landings. Makes me want to go bust out the telescope to see if I can get a closeup of the landing sites. My one issue with this book, and maybe it couldn't really be avoided given the times and the subject matter, but in the whole book there are only two women portrayed, both mothers at home on the living room sofa with husband and son, making rather shallow observations of what they're watching on TV. Could the moms not have made the science-based answers to their sons' questions? And why isn't one of these kids a girl? Other than that gender bias, this is a great book and will certainly be a popular resource for students learning about the early years of the Unites States space program.

Smart Writers Journal

The Apollo II mission is described here in graphic novel format. Complete back matter makes this acceptable for research as well as high-interest reading.

Teacher Librarian

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, NASA would attempt a moon landing. Both missions went perfectly and Apollo 11 was scheduled for 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. This is one of large collection of titles in the “Graphic Library” series published by Capstone Press.

Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review

This new title in the Capstone Graphic Library series presents the drama of the first Moon landing and includes authentic astronaut-mission control conversations and detailed illustrations. Using bold, full-color graphic illustrations, this series portrays critical chapters in American history in a way that reluctant readers will find accessible. Simple, exciting text and vivid drawings work together to explain critical events that shaped the course of American history. For grades 3 and 4.

Lunar & Planetary Institute Lunar & Planetary Information Bulletin