To The Moon!

I’ve put together a Moon book roundup online in honor of Apollo 11’s landing on the Moon and Neil Armstrong’s first steps. Here’s a brief sampling of what you’ll see:

Back when you could get six postcards for a quarter, Miroslav Sasek wrote and illustrated what is now the classic, This Is The Way To The Moon (Universe Publishing, www.rizzoliusa.com, $17.95; ages 8-80). Originally published in 1963 as This Is Cape Canaveral and then re-released as This Is Cape Kennedy in 1964, Sasek’s whimsical words and illustrations recall a bygone era when nothing related to interplanetary traveled was viewed as commonplace. Hotels and businesses near the famous Cocoa Beach and Cape Kennedy captured the spirit of outer space with names like Astrocraft Motel and Missile Taxi, and Alan Shepard, Jr. became the first man in space. Filled with fascinating facts, the book is an inimitable introduction to the rise of the American space program, combining lots of details with Sasek’s subtle humor. One interesting thing (amongst many others) I learned was that back in 1973 residents successfully petitioned to have Cape Kennedy once again called Cape Canaveral.

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