Fact Friday: How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco

Image: Penguin Random House

How We Got to the Moon: the people, technology, and daring feats of science behind humanity's greatest adventure written and illustrated by John Rocco. 264 p. Crown Books for Young Readers, October, 2020. 9780525647416. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Happy Friday! Fact Friday features How We Got to the Moon: the people, technology, and daring feats of science behind humanity's greatest adventure written and illustrated by John Rocco. Now, if you are a Percy Jackson fan, you know Mr. Rocco's work, as he has illustrated all the covers for that series and its spin-offs.

This hefty, oversized, gorgeous volume begins in October of 1957, when people all over the world learned that Russia had launched a satellite called Sputnik. Panic ensued. Were we being spied upon? Could a satellite drop an atomic bomb? The U.S. scrambled to catch up. 

The subtitle really says it all. That's how wide-ranging the text is. Each spread brims with text that explains the history, science, engineering and gives biographical background on some of the many thousands of individuals who worked tirelessly to put a man on the moon. Illustrations vie with the text on each page and just beg to be pored over. There are technical drawings, cutaways, and portraits. This is a book that ought to be read more than once. There's just too much to take in. The back matter is superb. It gives the reader a glimpse into all the research Mr. Rocco did for both the writing and the art, source notes, sources, and suggestions for further reading.

Fact hounds and space geeks will adore this book, but so will the average curious reader. How We Got to the Moon was long-listed for the National Book Award and is a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. Who knows what other awards it might garner next Monday? A Sibert? A Newbery? This book needs to be in every library's collection.

Fact Friday: Rocket to the Moon by Don Brown

Image: Abrams

Rocket to the Moon by Don Brown. 132 p. Big Ideas That Changed the World Series #1. Amulet Books/ Abrams, March, 2019. 9781419734045. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Fact Friday features Rocket to the Moon by Don Brown. Borrowing from the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series, Rocket to the Moon is narrated by Rodman Law an aviation daredevil and arguably the first man to fly in a rocket. He covers the history of rocketry from ancient China through the moon landing in 1969 - the highs and lows, warts and all. It wasn't all noble and heroic. 

The art is gorgeous. The palette is appropriately muted, save for the brilliant red of the odd explosions. It's predominantly black, white and gray tones. Plentiful back matter consists of a timeline, a note on Rodman Law, chapter notes, an extensive bibliography an Author's Note and an index. 

A promising start to a new series. No graphic novel collection would be complete without Rocket to the Moon. I can't wait to see which "big idea" is next! 

Fact Friday and Picture Book Review: Daring Dozen: the twelve who walked on the moon by Suzanne Slade

Image: Charlesbridge

Daring Dozen: the twelve who walked on the moon by Suzanne Slade. Illustrated by Alan Marks. unpgd. Charlesbridge, March, 2019. 9781580897730. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Did you know that July 20, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's* moonwalk? Yes, he took that one small step for man, but did you know that eleven other astronauts walked on the moon after him? Fact Friday features Daring Dozen: the twelve who walked on the moon by Suzanne Slade. The author sparely but eloquently summarizes each of the Apollo missions from Apollo 11 to Apollo 17 accompanied by creamy, dreamy double-page watercolor paintings depicting a variety of astronaut activity and moonscapes. 

Plentiful back matter includes an Afterword written by Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon; a note from the author; a timeline; more information about the vehicles; more information about the missions; more information about the art; and formal color group photos of each team along with, you guessed it, more information. Four books for further reading, source notes and a selected bibliography that includes websites round out the back matter. Additionally, the book is hefty and beautifully designed. The decorated end-pages feature two footprints on the moon's surface. Just lovely.

Daring Dozen is a superb addition to any library!

*ETA: Thanks to Susie for pointing out an unfortunate typo. Ugh! So sorry!

Non-Fiction Monday: Voyager's Greatest Hits: the epic trek to interstellar space by Alexandra Siy

Voyager's Greatest Hits: the epic trek to interstellar space by Alexandra Siy. 74 p. Charlesbridge, June, 2017. 9781580897280. (Review from gifted finished copy.)

I finished a unique debut novel the other day called See You in the Cosmos. In it, the main character, an eleven-year-old boy named Alex is obsessed with space in general, but with the journey of the Voyagers and their payload, the Golden Record, in particular. Carl Sagan is his hero. He has even named his dog, Carl Sagan. I was reminded that I had this book sitting on my tbr pile and pushed it to the top. The two books make for a great fiction/ non-fiction pairing.

Voyager's Greatest Hits is a beautiful book from the covers, which open up to reveal a Voyager rocket seemingly headed to the center of swirling stars (It is not captioned, so I don't know if it's real or photoshopped but it sure is pretty.) to the endpages. The front endpages show a close-up of the label on the Golden Record - "The Sounds of Earth." Side 1. NASA. United States of America. PLANET EARTH! Etched in the black section surrounding the label are the words, "To the makers of music. All worlds. All times. The back endpages feature the directions for playing the record. In between are chapters called Tracks. Clever subheadings break up the chapters, excuse me, tracks. Some of them are song titles, such as Rocket Man or On the Road Again, or just plain fun, like, Slingshot in Space, or The Junk on the Bus. 

Each chapter is well-organized and chock-full of information from the historic discoveries through the ages that paved the way for Gary Flandro to consider the problem of gravity-assist rocket trajectories in 1965 (p.5) to the conception needing a whole lot of math to the collaboration of scientists all over the world to its construction and launch. There are plenty of well-captioned, full-color photos that intrigue and boggle the mind. The tone is light and conversational. Backmatter includes an author's note, glossary, websites and books for further reading, source notes and an index. 

This book is a great addition to any school, public or STEM classroom library!