To The Moon! By Jeffrey Klugger Book Review

 The exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of the Earth's orbit and reach the moon, by the best-selling author of Apollo 13.

What's more exciting than spaceships and astronauts? How about a spaceship carrying the first astronauts ever to see the moon firsthand--on Christmas!

The year was 1968, and the American people were still reeling from the spacecraft fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew a year earlier. On top of that, there were rumors that the Russian cosmonauts were getting ready to fly around the moon. NASA realized that they needed to take a bold step--and that they needed to take it now. They wanted to win the space race against Russia and hold true to President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. So in a risky move, a few days before Christmas of that year, they sent Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders to the moon!

This book about the exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of Earth's orbit and reach the moon, tells the story of these three brave men, the frantic rush to get their rocket ready, and the journey that gave the American people--and the world--a new look at the planet we live on and the corner of space we inhabit.

Filled with the science and training required to put a person into space, and every detail of what it's like to live in a spaceship for days on end (including what happens when astronauts need to use the bathroom), this book is sure to leave kids clamoring for a spot on the next mission to outer space.

My Thoughts:

I was excited to see this book. This is an exciting historical event. I was eager to get it in my son’s hands to read. It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on 50 years since Apollo 8. The book is for grades 5 and 6. My son loves history and I knew that this would be something that would interest him. This is definitely a story to fuel the imagination of a 12 year old. I had a hard time putting the book down.

This is a hardback chapter book with 14 chapters and 258 pages. The back of the book has a glossary for all the Apollo 8 words. There are also 14 pages of photos of everything from the take off, astronaut suits, and several other pertaining to the mission of Apollo 8.

The majority of the story is of Commander Frank Borman. There is a lot of interesting details that you will learn about his early life, military career up until he is part of NASA. You will also get acquainted with the other astronauts just not a much details. 

There is just a lot of depth in the story from what it would be like being in space. What about bathrooms? What about your family who witness the horrific events a year earlier with Apollo 1 explosion. The book was a real page turner and I look forward to hearing my son’s thoughts on this story.  

This is a great story to teach your kids history of the first mission to travel to the moon.

I received a free copy of this product from Penguin Random House in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations