Books make the best gifts. I may be a little biased, but I love giving books as gifts. I think they offer a personal connection. You are either saying, I loved this book and I think you will too. Or, I know you love cats, science, history, etc so I thought this would be a great book for you. It means you have listened to them when they have shared something with you and that you took the time to notice. To see all the posts in this series, click HERE.
TO THE MOON AND BACK
My Apollo 11 Adventure: A Pop Up Book
By: Buzz Aldrin with Marianne J. Dyson
Illustrated by: Bruce Foster
Published: October 16, 2016
Publisher: National Geographic Children’s Books
Non-Fiction
In celebration of Apollo 11’s 50th Anniversary of its mission, Buzz Aldrin retells the story of his adventure to the moon with Neil Armstrong. But this is no everyday book, it is an interactive journey with personal stories, pop-ups, paper folds, and personal anecdotes. There is even an Apollo 11 Eagle paper model to build.
Buzz Aldrin gives a behind-the-scenes look of his time as an astronaut. His story is full of emotion, sharing the scary, the sad, and even funny moments during his time as an astronaut. When he tells about losing his best friend during Apollo 1 and then the scary moments of Apollo 13 I felt his sadness and disappointment for his friends not getting their trip to the moon. But this book is written for kids and he doesn’t spend a lot of time on any one event. His stories are brief but full of detail.
The photography and pop-ups on the pages are phenomenal. This photo of the rocket doesn’t even do it justice. It’s just so cool. My college-aged son was sitting next to me while I was looking through the book and even he thought this book was cool.
There is something to do on nearly every page whether it is a pop-up, or a slide out with extra details or lift-the-flap. This book is interactive and informative. I can’t imagine any kid not being interested in this book. But, for kids that have a passion for space, this is one of those “WOW” books for them.
One of the personal details comes from Aldrin’s daughter about his homecoming that I thought was really sweet. This book is part informational, but also a celebration of Aldrin’s journey 50 years ago and something no man has done for 46 years after Apollo 17. That really is quite interesting that we haven’t had any humans on the moon since the year I was born!
Space fans young and old would really love this book. Adults that remember watching Apollo 11’s journey or kids that hope to become an astronaut would find much to enjoy from Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 adventure story.
Check out the book trailer, below:
Buzz Aldrin – source
Buzz Aldrin is an engineer and former American astronaut, the second person to walk on the moon. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. He set foot on the moon on July 21, 1969, following mission commander Neil Armstrong. Aldrin is also a retired colonel of the United States Air Force and a Command Pilot. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration and hopes that Americans will be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Apollo 11 by astronauts taking a trip to Mars. For more information, check out his website, HERE. It’s worth a look! You can see all of Buzz Aldrin’s books, HERE.
To purchase a copy of TO THE MOON AND BACK, click the photo below:
You can pre-order Buzz Aldrin’s 50th Anniversary book written for adults now. It will be available on April 2, 2019.
I will be linking up this review with other bloggers on Booking Mama’s Kid Konnection, HERE. There you will find other children’s and YA book related posts every Saturday.
Check out these other books about Space:
SPACE BOY AND THE SNOW MONSTER
Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of the book for the purpose of this review. This is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. If you choose to purchase the book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Book Review, Bruce Foster, Buzz Aldrin, Children's books, Kid Konnection, Marianne J. Dyson, National Geographic, non-fiction, pop-up, space
I still love pop up books and thought this one was fabulous! Merry Christmas, Stacie!