20th July 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing (Part 2)

In the book Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon author Catherine  Thimmesh gives  a rare perspective on a story we only thought we knew. 'For Apollo 11, the first moon landing, is a story that belongs to many, not just the few and famous. It belongs to the seamstress who put together twenty-two layers of fabric for each space suit. To the engineers who created a special heat shield to protect the capsule during its fiery reentry. It belongs to the flight directors, camera designers, software experts, suit testers, telescope crew, aerospace technicians, photo developers, engineers, and navigators.' 

I love picture book biographies and the subject of the moon landing has been well written about for children. There are biographies about Armstrong and Aldrin, but perhaps you haven't seen some of the other amazing biographies that tell the stories of other people who have been involved in the quest to get to the moon either before Apollo 11 or after. Many of them were woman and continue to be women. They help to show what Thimmesh contends, that there are so many other people involved.




• Reaching For the Moon by Buzz Aldrin and Wendell Minor
• Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin and Wendell Minor 
• One Giant Leap: the Story of Neil Armstrong  by Don Brown



• Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing  by Dean Robbins and Lucy Knisley






• Hidden Figures: The True Story of  Four Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly and Laura Freeman



• Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13  by Helaine Becker and Dow Phumiruk

• A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Suzanne Spade and Veronica Miller Jamison

• Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed and Stasia Burrington