Sorry for the delay in posting this past week. Sometimes life just defeats my best intentions!
First, I'd like to announce the names of the 12 people who will receive copies of the EDIWTB June book club selection – The Local News by Miriam Gershow. I've been in touch with Miriam and she is excited to answer questions and do a guest post. etc. I think it will be a great book club book! The discussion will take place here on Monday, June 15th. Books will go out this week, so if you won, please email me at [email protected] with your address. The winners are:
Kerri R., Rachel J. (Chel), Melanie, Carrie L., Rachel (rmanwill), Susan (seaside book worm), Kelly C., Miriam, Marcia, Melissa, Kori, and Amy W.
Second, here is a very cool book for kids that was illustrated and written by Brian Floca. It's called Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, and it's a beautifully-drawn depiction of the famous moon landing. From Amazon:
Forty years after NASA’s Apollo 11 mission first landed astronauts on the moon, this striking nonfiction picture book takes young readers along for the ride. The moon shines down on Earth, where three men don spacesuits, climb into Columbia, and wait for liftoff. On a nearby beach, people gather to watch the rocket blast the astronauts into space. The astronauts fly to the moon, circle it, land on it, walk on its surface, and see “the good and lonely Earth, glowing in the sky.” After flying back to the orbiter, they return to Earth and splash down, “home at last.” An appended note discusses the mission in greater detail. Written with quiet dignity and a minimum of fuss, the main text is beautifully illustrated with line-and-wash artwork that provides human interest, technological details, and some visually stunning scenes. The book’s large format offers plenty of scope for double-page illustrations, and Floca makes the most of it, using the sequential nature of picture books to set up the more dramatic scenes and give them human context. The moving image of Earth seen from the moon, for instance, is preceded by a picture of a lone astronaut looking up. A handsome, intelligent book with a jacket that’s well-nigh irresistible.
Brian was in town signing copies of his book at Politics & Prose yesterday, and my daughters got a beautifully inscribed copy that is a special addition to their library. I highly recommend this book for anyone with aspiring astronauts or kids interested in science. Amazon suggests grades K-3.
You can read more about Moonshot at Brian Floca's website.