Non-Fiction Picture Books - To the Moon, To The Ocean

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  I always learn from these books, am happy that they are more and more available today for children, for everyone!

               Thanks to Charlesbridge for these books, out just one week ago!

      Children are going to read this as history and I'm reading it as memory. It's a celebration by Suzanne Slade of the Apollo flights that begins where her Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon ends. A most exciting time happened in the United States, beginning in 1962 when President John Kennedy said in his speech, "We choose to go to the moon." And we would go, seven years later! Sadly, he did not get to see his vision take place, but we remember his inspiration! You can see from the title that this is the story of those twelve astronauts who walked on the moon! Slade also includes those whose journeys did not make it, twenty-one in all.

      Page by double-page spread illustrations by Alan Marks show the grandeur and holding-your-breath excitement from that first step onto our only moon. Neil Armstrong's name will live as the first man on the moon, Alan Shephard as the first golfer in space (Did you know?), and Charlie Duke leaves behind a photo of his family. Each flight extended the stay on the moon as astronauts collected rock specimens and set up experiments, learned to navigate the Lunar Module in order to land in different places to collect more information. Here's one picture of their traveling on the Lunar Roving Vehicle, helping the astronauts conserve energy so they could reach other places faster. It is an inspiring part of history, amazing to believe that we will be celebrating the fifty year anniversary of Apollo 11 this summer. 

       Much more information is given in the afterword. Alan Bean, the fourth man on the moon, gives an intro and there is a note from the author. Added is a timeline, more about the vehicles, the missions, the art and pages with the facts about each mission. A bibliography and source notes end this wonderful keepsake book of Nasa's flights to and exploration of the moon. 

       I loved the ending pages showing children and their cat gazing up at what Suzanne Slade writes is "A quiet place where/no wind blows,/no water flows,/no life grows." 

          It's the first US edition of this page-filled, creatures-captured in gorgeous art Ocean Emporium of ocean life. From Crabs to Octopuses, Sharks to Penguins, each collection's variety is pictured and labeled with a brief paragraph about the groups. Susie Brooks introduces the book with a double-page spread explanation of the ocean's circle of life, Apex Predator sharks to plankton, shellfish to krill.  Her explanations on each page are summaries, but with them and Dawn Cooper's realistic illustrations, readers will want to discover more through further research. The book ends with a vertical double-page of creatures of the deep, "the largest habitat on Earth". Do you know the helmet Jellyfish, the harp sponge or the southern ocean giant spider? You can see them on this page but will want much more after the view. Be sure to find this terrific new ocean book for a classroom or for individuals who want to know more!