The Story of The Moon Landing

The Story of the Moon Landing
By R. Conrad Stein
Publisher/Date:Childrens Press 1992
# of Pages: 31
Reading Level: 5th Grade
Genre: Historical

Summary:

This book is all about the first moon landing. It begins by telling about the so called "space age". The Soviet Union and the U.S. were in a race of sorts to see who could do things first in space. The Soviet Union were the first to send up big space probes to touch the moon and to take pictures. They also sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin. America's John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. Other people were sent into space, but on January 27 1967, the Apollo space capsule caught fire and killed three astronauts. It talks about the other Apollo missions til finally the Apollo 11 mission. It was the first mission that sent astronauts to walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on its surface. There is where he said the famous well-known line, "one small step for man, one big leap for mankind." He and his fellow astronaut collected moon rocks and samples to bring back to earth, took some pictures, placed a plaque on it, and also an American flag. People all over the world saw or listened to the whole thing live on earth. When they came home they were welcomed like heroes. The book also talks about other missions including the disastrous Apollo 13 mission, and ends saying that at some point soon, scientists will have sent a man to walk on Mars.

Who would benefit from reading this book?

This is a book full of information. Anyone who wants to learn more about the first moon landing and the journey that got us there would benefit from reading this book. I think it's especially good for those who weren't alive in 1969 when this even took place. It's very informative and could even be used as a source for a research paper or project.

What problems/conflicts could this book possibly create?

I don't know of any problems that could come about from reading this book about Apollo 11. I suppose some people think that the whole thing was a hoax and choose not to believe the story, but other than that there are no problems.

My Reaction:

At first, I wasn't very excited to read this book because I thought it would just be a boring informational book. However, I found myself rather intrigued by it. It has been a while since I learned about the first moon landing, and it was cool to refresh my memory. It made me want to watch the movie, Apollo 13. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I think it would be a good one to have in a classroom.