Publishers Weekly
The 1969 moon landing is the locus for this inspired collaboration. Aston (An Egg Is Quiet) subtly inserts facts about the Apollo 11 mission into a broader, poetic story about the excitement it generates in an eight-year-old's community. Mae, the narrator, begins the day in church with her grandfather, where everyone prays for the astronauts. Later, as she and her cousins build a play spaceship, she thinks more about her grandfather, a hardworking farmer who considers the space program a waste of money. By the end of the evening, the whole family has seen Neil Armstrong on the moon, and Mae's quietly confided dream of going to the moon someday has reminded Gramps of the wonder in his own childhood (afterward, "A sigh in Gramps's voice/ Made my heart squeeze"). In some of his finest watercolors to date, Pinkney (The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll) supplies both his characteristically affectionate, realistic portrayals of African-American families and lyrical views of the moon, giving visual form to what Aston evokes: awe. Ages 6-8. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist
[A] satisfying tribute to this milestone in human history and its power to inspire others.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3
A girl remembers the summer of 1969 and the first moon landing in this lushly illustrated, 40th-anniversary tribute. From her small town of Star, Mae and her family pray for the astronauts, she and her cousins build a homemade "rocket ship," and they all watch the historic moment on television. Pinkney's remarkable graphite, ink, and watercolor paintings evoke both the vastness of space and the intimacy of 1960s family life. Writing in the voice of a nine-year-old African-American girl, Aston is lyrical and sometimes evocative, though some of her narrative choices are overworked. The visual format of the free verses, with every line beginning with a capital letter, is distracting and interferes with the text's natural rhythms. The choice of the name Mae for the character who aspires to be an astronaut may be homage paid to Mae Jemison, and even the name of the fictional town seems to exist just for its metaphorical value. That said, this book offers children a close-up view of an experience that seems quaint today, but that was life-changing in 1969.-Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC
Kirkus Reviews
Twenty-three years before Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel into space, a young girl living in the small Southern town of Star anxiously awaits the first step of a man on the moon. In a child's voice but with lovely storytelling cadences, Aston tells the story of the excitement, anticipation and skepticism felt by one family on July 20, 1969. Young Mae and her family go about their normal routines-church, picnicking, play-but take time throughout the day to gather around the television to watch history being made. While Mae is excited, her Gramps, like many Americans, feels the space program is a waste of money but nevertheless encourages her granddaughter to dream. Pinkney's vibrant illustrations exquisitely complement the moving story. The double-page spreads of the the rocket traveling through space from Earth to Moon express the enormity of the moment, and the characters' emotions are palpable. While the family is African-American, there is no explicit connection to the historical Jemison, rendering this tale gorgeously universal. (Picture book. 6-9)
