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Home > Librarians@Random > A Word from Pat Scales

July 2009

To the Moon

Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

Apollo 11 landed on the moon July 20, 1969. It was the first manned mission to accomplish this. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Jr. spent 2 ½ hours exploring the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit. It was on this mission that Neil Armstrong made the famous statement, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." This summer there will be celebrations throughout the United States to mark the 40th anniversary of this historic mission. What a golden opportunity to make science a focus of library programming for children!

• Begin by asking children to discuss the meaning of Armstrong's famous words. What is the small step? What is the giant leap? What is the difference between "man" and "mankind"?

• Make a connection between the past and present by introducing the book The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds (ages 9-up). Have children draw a mural called "The Story of Flight," that begins with the Wright Brothers and ends with space travel.

• Sponsor an art contest called "The Future Spaceship" where young artists illustrate what they think spaceships will look like in 2049.

• Make Erector Sets available to children, and ask them to build a model spacecraft.

• Have readers find a poem about the solar system, space, etc., and ask them to share the poem with others. Encourage them to illustrate the poem using imagery from the poem as inspiration.

• Lead young readers to biographies of courageous pilots like Amelia Earhart by John Parlin (ages 6-9).

• Lead a discussion about the solar system and why it's important that scientists continue to explore the planets. Introduce them to There's No Place Like Space! All About Our Solar System by Tish Rave & illus. by Aristides Ruiz (ages 5-8).

• Ask young readers to think about what it takes to become an astronaut. Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy (ages 5-8) is entertaining but factual about the requirements for a career as an astronaut.

• Beginning readers race to read all of "The Magic Tree House" books. Midnight on the Moon by Mary Pope Osborne & illus. Sal Murdocca (ages 6-9) is a terrific adventure that takes young readers to the moon. There is even a companion research guide called Space that offers activities to use with children.

• Have a science fiction reading club. Discuss the difference between fantasy and science fiction. Then have readers read a work of science fiction and explain why the novel is considered science fiction. Suggestions from Random House include:

Space Dogs by Justin Ball & Evan Croker (ages 8-12)

Space Race by Sylvia Waugh (ages 10-up)

Weird Planet # 1: Dude, Where's My Spaceship? by Dan Greenburg (ages 6-9)

The Xenocide Mission by Ben Jeapes (ages 12-up)

• There are a number of websites that young readers may wish to explore for further information on space. The following may be used with children, but encourage them to identify additional websites. Older children may be encouraged to actually evaluate websites for accuracy, amount of information, clarity of text, photographs, charts, etc, and ease of navigation.

This site discusses the Apollo spacecraft, and gives a line drawing of the actual spacecraft.
The official website of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The official website for the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
This website provides a short biography of Neil Armstrong.
This site gives a short biography of Buzz Aldrin, Jr.
This site gives a biography of Michael Collins
This site gives information about space camp for kids