Review Temporarily Removed.

I consider myself a person of at least average intelligence. I know how to hold down a job. To feed and clothe myself. And when it comes to historical events I tend to think that I know most of the pertinent details. Take the original moon landing of Apollo 11 as one such example. Sure, I knew that the folks on the ship were “Buzz” Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong. I knew it was a flight filled with close calls and near catastrophes (thank YOU Team Moon by Catherine Thimmesh!). And I More...

I'm finally getting around to reviewing this because Neil Armstrong passed away this week. I'd made a stab at this a while back, but for some reason my ipad freaks and looses anything in a text box if I leave it too long or something. Thanks, technology.

I consider myself a medium crier. I won't cry at just anything, and in some instances I sit dry-eyed in a sea of bawlers because of certain contrarian tendencies in my personality and tear ducts. But space makes me weep, often embarrassingly so. More...

I read this book for the Sibert assignment.

It was a 2010 Sibert Honor Book.

This book would connect to the curriculum fantastically in terms of astromony and space. I think it could also tie in during a modern day explorers discussion, as is had at my school.

This is a big book and I found myself lost and mesmorized in the huge pictures of Space and the sky. The visuals were just enough to make me understand the (basic) science but mostly, feel the emotions of the astronauts and the world waiting More...

4Q 4P
This is a very engaging picture book for young readers, which tells the story of Apollo 11 from the time of takeoff to landing. However, most of the detailed information lies on the book's endpapers. For example, the endpapers before the title page shows the parts of the Apollo spacecraft and launch vehicle and the endpapers after the story is an author's note with more background information about President Kennedy's influence, the Apollo mission, and statistics and scientific information More...

This book is superb! I think it's wonderful that such a simple book can be so effective at visually transporting one into the reaches of outer space between our Earth and the Moon, and this is exactly what author/illustrator Brian Floca has accomplished. His illustrations of the largeness of space are amazing in their depth and masterful sense of scope, truly evoking a sense of wonder and awe at the massive size that exists even within just our solar system. The text is spare and beautiful, succ More...

I tried to dismiss this book as being too text-heavy, but thank god I have it another try. It's wonderful. The writing is simple but elegant. Elegant- there is just no other word that expressed the beauty inherent in its simplicity. Floca has taken the tired story of space travel to the moon and infused it with new life. He blends personal stories and factual details flawlessly.

A taste:
"Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin
ride the fire and thunder
pressed deep in their seats
their bodies as heavy as clay."

I More...

Floca, Brian. Moonshot: the flight of Apollo 11. (Illus. by the author). Atheneum Books for Young Readers. An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. “A Richard Jackson Book.” Trade. ISBN: 978-1-416-9-5046-2. $17.99. Unpaged. Sources, Illustrations. (Primary, intermediate). 4 stars.

Brian Floca recaptures the momentous July 16, 1969 launch and landing of the six million pound Apollo11 spacecraft on the moon flawlessly. Beginning with the rollout of Apollo 11 to its launch, More...

I felt like I was the fourth passenger on Apollo 11 when I read this book. I saw what the crewmen saw; I felt what the crewmen felt.

The pictures are fun, like cartoons. The pictures, together with the text, carry you right into the story. Both the pictures and the text are simple, but there is more detailed information for those who want to know more in the back.

The children who listened to the story liked the pictures and the text a lot. They especially liked the way the words were written on t More...

As the 2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, this picture book tells the story of Apollo 11. While the story of Apollo 11 is quite grand and detailed, this picture book does a phenomenal job of retelling this historic mission in a very simplistic way, one in which younger students would be apt to understand. Key vocabulary such as the astronauts' names (Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin), spaceships' names (Columbia and Eagle), launch control jargon (Go for launch), etc are all used More...

Picture Book- Non-Fiction
Published April 7th 2009 by Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
ISBN: 141695046X (ISBN13: 9781416950462)
Ages 4-7

Summary:
The story of Apollo 11, its crew, and the world that watched it happen--the first moon landing in 1969.

Uses:
Great Read aloud text for the following unit studies:
-Space
-Transportation
-Sequencing
-Explorers/Biographies
-Free-verse poetry
-US History- Kennedy, Nixon
-Author's website( http://www.brianfloca.com/Moonshot.html) has coloring pages, links to book traile More...

Floca, Brian. (2009). Moonshot. Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
Moonshot makes an outstanding choice for read aloud. Authority is established as he credits all his sources he used in preparation of the book. NASA made available charts, graphs, press realeases, photographs, videos flight plans, and memoranda. A good place to start for viewing his sources he says is the NASA website. These were invaluable he states to the creation of the book. He also sites films especially documentaries on Apollo More...

Outstanding!!! I admit that this languished on my shelf for several weeks before the impending library due date forced me to read it. I'd heard rave reviews, but I wasn't really grabbed by the illustrations and the text seemed a bit long. Wow, am I glad I decided to read it!!! Floca tells the story of Apollo "The Eagle Has Landed" 11 with such heart and an almost poetic style--I was captivated and moved. The illustrations almost seemed a bit too cartoonish for the style of the text--though the i More...

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca shares the story of Apollo 11. With attention to detail about the days up to the launch, the flight and landing, the reader learns of the amazing journey that three brave men took. The front pages show a detailed description of the rocket and modules to help with background knowledge later on in the story. We see through the detailed illustrations the mission to the moon. The story tells of the important events, fun details of weightlessness and w More...

My parents go this book for my three-year-old son, who is in love with rockets and space. The Saturn V is his favorite rocket of all time. This is a picture book, and the text is a long poem describing the Apollo 11 journey. It is perfect for my three-year-old (too much/complex text for my one-year-old, but still a picture book), but, boy, do I love it! (Actually, my five-year-old also quite likes it, too, so its not only for little kids.)

This is a great example of a picture book. The art is spe More...

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca

1. Genre: Concept

2. Moonshot is a wonderful non-fiction book about the first landing on the moon. It details the preparation before blast-off, the journey to the moon, the landing on the moon, as well as tidbits about what life was like for the three astronauts throughout the mission.

3. a. I appreciated the accuracy of this book.

b. I used this book to instruct students in my practicum classroom about the first mission to the moon. They loved heari More...

The front endpapers of this book were fascinating showing how the rocket was put together and the different stages of the Moon Landing. I found myself studying them to figure out which part of the rocket fell away at which time. The material in the endpapers could have fit well into the story, especially how the astronauts were quarantined for three weeks after they arrived home. In the text of the book, the astronauts splash down in the ocean and then they are out running around in the yard wit More...

If this book doesn't get a batch of awards then I will totally give up on my fellow librarians as a bunch of hopeless twits! I would give it 4 1/2 stars if I could, perhaps even 4 3/4 stars.

This is one of the BEST pieces of non-fiction for children I have seen in a while. The language is simple enough to read to a younger child, but has such a poetic feel that it will catch the attention of an older child who can read it on their own. There is plenty of information, but it's presented in a way t More...

In kid friendly words, terms, and pictures, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 is the story of man's landing on the moon. Astronaunts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin are headed into the uncharted territory as they prepare for their flight to the moon. The story gives a lot of food for thought... such as in space, there is no up or down, and everything floats, even your dinner!
Things that are normally routine, like sleeping, are a struggle... as is using the bathroom, or storing More...

This is a fascinating account of the Apollo 11 moon landing. It happened before I was born, so it is not etched in my mind like it was for so many who came before me. I learned a lot from this book; I appreciate the extra information on the book ends - facts, timelines and history that our girls would consider boring, but that I found to be extremely interesting and informative. The story itself was fairly simple, with just enough detail to provide a cohesive tale and keep our girls' interest. T More...

Who hasn't heard of Apollo 11 and Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. I knew they were the first men on the moon but I guess I never really thought about all the details of how they got there. This book gives us those details in easy to understand language aimed at elementary age kids (but kids of any age will surely enjoy it). The illustrations are wonderful clear and really help tell the story. I like that this is geared towards kids yet gives all the details we need to understand what was happenin More...

This is in so many respects a stunning book. What Brian Floca has done with the language of an informational book for children is, in and of itself, a mighty accomplishment. Scholars who conduct analyses of the features of informational books--the generic structures, the linguistic features, the illustration extension elements--should be fascinated by this book because it bends some many of what are considered the information book's typical linguistic characteristics. And some of those folks nee More...

This book takes a simple look at Apollo 11's flight and moon landing that not only young space enthusiasts will be able to grasp, but all ages can enjoy. As an adult reader, I especially liked the more detailed summary of the flight in the back of the book, for those wanting to know more. (For example, I loved the fact that Apollo 11 left the earth the size of a skyscraper and returned the size of a Volkswagen bus. Also my question as to where all that machinery ended up when expelled from the s More...

Moonshot is a breathtaking book that tells the true story of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission. I actually learned more through this book about that mission than I had through any other film or book, but the subject matter is broken down in a way that creates a brilliant children's book in the process. The writing almost places you right there with the astronauts, which is tough to do with this format of literature.

I would recommend this to 2nd grade and up, as there is quite a bit of informati More...

Floca, Brian. (2009). Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11. New York: Richard Jackson Books/Atheneum/Simon and Schuster. 48 pp. ISBN 1-4169-5046-X (Hardcover); $17.99.

Of all the Apollo space missions, Apollo 11 is the mission that most of us remember. While most of us remember, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” the real drama of the mission is how close it came to never happening (or worse). This mission was literally seconds away from failure or disaster. In this nicely More...

Robert F. Sibert Honor Book 2010

Audience: I think that this book would be great for 2nd to 6th graders. It would appeal to this audience because it is still a picture book, but it is longer in length and a little more mature in content.

Appeal: This book is extremely appealing in terms of its beautiful illustrations and easy to read free verse. There is so much history inscribed in the pages of this book yet it is so simplistically written. A younger audience can take an amazing journey through s More...

Okay, I absolutely love anything to do with the Apollo missions! I was 9 years old the summer Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon-I will never forget it. My dad always got me up early to watch any launching. This is a wonderful picture book telling of the flight of Apollo 11, from rocket launch to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. It explains nicely, the different stages of the flight, and helps the reader understand the purpose of each "part" of the the rocket. I can't wait to read this to More...

I've been looking for books for my son about space. I wanted something he could get without having to know a lot of technological terminology. I picked this up at the library and I cannot wait for him to come home so we can read it together. This tells the story of the first moon landing in such a beautiful and poetic way.

My favorite lines from the book:

there is the Moon,
cold and quiet,
no air, no life,
but glowing in the sky.
Glowing and growing,
it takes them in,
it pulls them close.

I loved More...

This picture book rendition of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon brings readers right into the action with Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. The story is compellingly told with detailed illustrations and rich language (with the words displayed playfully across the pages to complement the actions). Floca manages to make the smaller facts/moments interesting and fun, and bring an appropriate emotional heft to the big ones (liftoff, stepping on the moon's surface and the return home). The book i More...

This was a very informational book about Apollo 11. I decided to read it because it is on the Monarch list for this year and I'm always looking for legit nonfiction picture books for my classroom library!

It told me a lot about the flight itself - from what they wore to what they ate to how they landed their tiny shuttles on the moon. It was cool to get that story, and the illustrations were pretty good. The writing was a little weird... it seemed like the author was trying to be poetic and I fou More...