The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff

Epic Fails #2

by Erik Slader, Ben Thompson

IN THIS SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THE EPIC FAILS SERIES, EXPLORE THE MANY FAILURES THAT MADE UP THE RACE TO SPACE, PAVING THE WAY FOR HUMANITY'S EVENTUAL SUCCESS AT REACHING THE STARS.

Today, everyone is familiar with Neil Armstrong's famous words as he first set foot on the moon: "one small step for for man; one giant leap for mankind." He made it look easy, but America's journey to the mood was anything but simple. In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite, into orbit, America had barely crossed the starting line of the great Space Race. Later that year, our first attempt was such a failure that the media nicknamed it "Kaputnik." Still, we didn't give up. With each failure, we gleaned valuable information about what went wrong, and how to avoid it in the future. So we tried again. And each time we failed, we failed a little bit better.

The Epic Fails series by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson explores the humorous backstories behind a variety of historical discoveries, voyages, experiments, and innovations that didn't go as expected by succeeded nonetheless, showing that many of mankind's biggest success stories are the result of some pretty epic failures indeed.






RUNNING TIME ➩ 1hr. and 53mins.

©2018 Erik Slader and Ben Thompson (P)2018 Recorded Books

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Middle Grade, Space, Science

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2018

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon approaches, there are numerous books being published on the topic. This one works well for young nonfiction lovers who aren't ready for more detailed accounts. The authors give a brief description of the circumstances that lead to the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. This provides context for the operations that followed including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. Both failures and successes are described. The photographs were appreciated and the illustrations added humor to the book. It works really well for the age-range it is aimed at. The only issues I had with it were not enough references, and the incorrect quote attributed to Neil Armstrong when he landed on the moon. But since the quote is wrong in many available sources it isn't surprising that it's wrong here too.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic Fails: The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson, 152 pages. NON-FICTION. Roaring Brook Press, 2018. $16

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

This book begins by going over some of the basic technology behind how rockets and spaceships work, but quickly moves on to the storied history of space exploration. A lot of the chapters chronicle the race between Russia and America to make it to space. The book includes details about several Apollo missions and the failures that were sometimes tragic.

I learned an embarrassing amount from this book. Not having grown up watching the space race unfold, but hearing bits a pieces through the years, it was good to put it all in order and organize the information in my brain. I was a little disappointed the book didn’t really follow through with the failures by explaining how they were used to learn something new, for example. One of the points that they kept emphasizing in the book was that they were working with such limited technology - often less computing power than a calculator. I thought that was so interesting and I think young readers will too.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Kory Torjussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spend all day, almost every day, staring at monitors. Recently I have been working harder to look away every so often for a few minutes. And what better an object to look towards than a good book?

This has been a great way to continue learning fun and interesting nuggets of reality without requiring much time.

These books definitely respect time and are just the right size -containing chapters of just the right length- that they beg to be carried around everywhere and used while lunch is heating up, waiting for a client to show, letting the dogs out, or any other normally mundane activity.

The book’s content is very easy to intake; containing just enough facts and data about international space history to maintain interest without feeling like it’s testing your skills as an astronaut.

Would definitely recommend!

[Shana OkieCozyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.” by John F. Kennedy. This quote begins Epic Fails, the Race to Space, Countdown to Liftoff by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson. It is a fascinating exploration of all the things that have gone WRONG in the American journey to space. Easy and fun to read, with illustrations and photographs from early missions and plans, this book takes you along on the journey with the scientists. Ifyou like adventure, join John Glenn, the “Captain America of the Mercury astronauts”, who was a Marine fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean war; and Neil Armstrong to witness his amazing heroism when everything went wrong to learn how mistakesand failure teach us our greatest lessons and took us to space.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction title covers the history of space exploration from 1895 when Tsiolkovsky came up with a rocket equation for escaping the Earth's gravity to 1975' s first US-Soviet joint mission. Although more recent space accomplishments are not mentioned, this covers the race to space very well. It's 152 pages, large print, and includes a timeline, index, and a bibliography. Black and white photographs and hand drawn illustrations add interest to this title. This is the second installment of the Epic Fails series, following the first installment which was The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving into History. Recommended for third to 8th graders.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

What led up to our space success stories? A long series of epic fails! Great new nonfiction series for fans of Blast from the Past and the Who Was/What Was/Where Is series.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun informative short book on rocket history and that of the of the US space program and some of the Soviet space program. Gives an accurate high level description of issues that occured (primarily on the US side).

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda disappointed that there was no mention of the Mercury 13.

[Raechel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of how space travel came to be what it is now.

[Jailen Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book taught space an entertaining way and was more accurate than what I learned in school. It also discusses what happened with the wars and how it affects rockets and the space race.

[Rory Eisele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great kid science book.

[Pattie Babbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Gavin book if ever there was one!

[MrsCarlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read, full of details for several space missions to the moon.

[Patrick Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book tells of some of the struggles and failures of the early space race.

[Randy Tramp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history.

[Nataliz Carpio · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like non-fiction and space I would definitely recommend this book, but I really don’t like this type of genre.