Saturday July 20, 2019 is the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing. To celebrate, let’s check out a new middle grade book about the moon.
Luna: The Science and Stories of Our Moon by David A. Aguilar
Beginning with how the moon is thought to have come about and how the moon compares with Earth, Aguilar then takes the reader on a ride through other moons, as well as moon myths and hoaxes, before settling down for a detailed discussion of moon features. Perfect for the lunar landing anniversary is a section about what the Apollo astronauts discovered.
The pluses: The book is filled with fantastic illustrations by David A. Agulilar. Also there are three hands-on activities in the back: making a 3D model of lunar craters with Plaster of Paris, using a small telescope to explore the moon, and directions for drawing the moon.
Slight minus is that the thin shape and design of the book give it a picture book look, and middle grade readers might hesitate to pick it up. For example, the children shown on page 34 are obviously younger than the 10-12 year old target range. The density of the text and vocabulary level, however, put it firmly into the middle grade level.
Luna is arriving on shelves just as interest in the moon and lunar landings is peaking. Explore a copy today!
Related:
Anastasia Suen’s Apollo 11 Booklist artiicle
Want to read more? See our growing list of books about the moon and lunar landings at Science Books for Kids.
Age Range: 10 – 12 years
Publisher: National Geographic Children’s Books (June 11, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1426333226
ISBN-13: 978-1426333224
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Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.Opens in a new window Note: this is a new link as of 1/2019.