Neil Armstrong

Rookie Biography

by Dana Meachen Rau

An introduction to the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the moon.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Dana Meachen Rau is an author, editor, and illustrator of children's books. She has written more than 100 books for children, many of them nonfiction in subjects including astronomy, history, and geography, as well as numerous biographies. She lives in Burlington, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Emily Schlotzhauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that Neil Armstrong got his pilot's license at 16 and went on 78 missions as a Naval fighter pilot during the Vietnam war? Neither did I until I read this book! Most people only know Armstrong for his flight to the moon, but he was a pilot nearly his entire life. He knew how to fly an airplane before he knew how to drive a car! This biography offers many little-known facts about Neil Armstrong's life, all the way up to his greatest mission- "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Early explorers of any kind are sure to find inspiration through this telling of Armstrong's life!

[NakulJain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprises and shocking events.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief description of the highlights of Armstrong's life.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have been introducing 2nd grade to the biography section of our library and pulled three lower-reading level titles for them to choose from: Benjamin Franklin, Wilma Rudolph, and Neil Armstrong. After a brief into to the mechanics of the biography section (ABC order by last name of person its about. . .), I introduced them to the concept of copyright date--how to find it in a book and why it is important. This book was published in 2003.

What I liked about this title is that it gave the pertinent information that many lower level biographies tend to leave out--specifically, when and where the person was born. (Come on publishers--when teachers ask for a child to do a biography report, those are two facts that they would like to have.) For an intro to biography, this title has been one of the better ones for my younger readers. Because the book is out-of-date now, I would not want to use it without an appropriate lesson about the importance of copyright date and using multiple sources when researching for reports.

Interesting to note, one of my 2nd graders wanted to know why the book did not include the famous quote about "one small step for man." Cool.

[Isabelle Wrobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography
Grade Level: 2-3
This was a great informational book. It allows you to look at the life of Neil Armstrong while using it to inspire your own life. Or at least that's how I felt! It was very informational, but still kept my attention as it was very interesting to see his life story.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the biography as a genre and also into space exploration and astronauts. I checked this book out from the library along with a few others in preparation for a visit to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and my 3.5 year old enjoyed this one best. The content is relevant and informative but easy to understand and get excited about. He was able to ask questions and add to his vocabulary.

[Melanie Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography is full of information on the life of Neil Armstrong. It has some colorful pictures as well. I thought the layout was a bit poor.