Moon's First Friends
by Susanna Leonard Hill
illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
Date: 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library
From high up in the sky, the Moon has spent her whole life watching Earth and hoping for someone to visit. Dinosaurs roam, pyramids are built, and boats are made, but still no one comes. Will friends ever come visit her?
Commemorate the extraordinary Apollo 11 spaceflight mission with this heartwarming story of the Moon who just wants a friend.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
This book teaches kids about history and science, framing the story as a wish for friendship by a lonely moon.
Starting billions of years ago, the story follows the Moon as she watches life on Earth evolve. But until humans come on the scene, she doesn't have much hope of getting to say hello to anyone in person.
The story is cute, and accented by sweet illustrations. The narrative itself is simple, and likely intended for much younger readers than the more scientific notes at the end. Those are nice, too, giving a basic overview of NASA's program to reach the Moon, as well as technical information about the rockets and modules used to get there. There might be a bit of a difference in the audience between these two parts of the book, but younger kids who are really interested in this sort of thing can of course "grow into" the more advanced section of the book.
Overall, this is a cute fictionalized tale about a real scientific subject. Kids who are interested in space and astronauts will likely find much to enjoy here.
Quotable moment:
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Overall: 3.67 out of 5
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