Exceptional information on the space race and rocket science history in general. Can’t wait to see more titles in this Big Ideas series since it seems everything Don Brown produces is amazingly great quality work.

This is a terrific graphic novel about the beginnings of the space program. The loose graphic style of the book will entice many readers to learn about man's first forays into outer space. I think the elementary and middle school kids are going to like this one a lot!

Rocket to the Moon!: Big Ideas That Changed the World
​by Don Brown
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Big Ideas That Changed the World, a series created by Don Brown, "celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately remade the world." Rocket to the Moon! is BIG IDEAS first book and follows the development and use of rockets.
​Rodman Law, a New Jersey daredevil parachutist in the early 1900's, is the character who narrates the chronology. He provides commentary and adds his own witty asides.
I bet I'm the first guy to try flying in a rocket. OK, OK, there's a sketchy story about a Turkish guy who did it in 1633, but come on, 1633? I'm not buying it, so I'm claiming the title.
Briefly mentioned are the Chinese invention of gunpowder, as well as fifteenth and sixteenth century experimentation with rockets. The narrative progresses with greater detail when detailing the research of twentieth-century Russian, American, and Romanian scientists and the work of American-German aerospace engineer Werner von Braun. His association with Hitler's Germany is mentioned. ​​
​A substantial portion of the book is devoted to the United States' space exploration, including the "space race" with Russia. The narrative culminates with the successful Apollo 11 lunar landing.
Brown includes trivia tidbits that will fascinate young readers, including such things as peeing and pooping in space, strapping upright pilots in the lunar module with Velcro, and jerry-rigging a ballpoint pen to replace a broken switch.
They lightened Eagle by discarding an impressive pile of junk: boots, a camera, canisters, scoops, a shovel, space suit parts, and an empty storage container. They left a bag of barf, too, so watch your step if you're ever on the Sea of Tranquility.
Line drawings, and link wash are clean and straightforward, moving the narrative along. The full-page panel of the moon's surface appropriately gives readers pause. Pacing shows the module’s slow descent to the Sea of Tranquility with a series of jagged-edge panels. Horizontal panels zoom in on one footstep as it descends down the ladder to the moon's surface.
Solid back matter adds significant value to this work and includes an extensive spaceflight timeline that begins with Jules Verne's 186 novel From the Earth to the Moon, continues with Robert Goddard's 1914 U.S. patents on multistage and liquid-fueled rockets, and concludes with SpaceX launch of the world's heaviest rocket in 2018. Brown directs readers to the NASA timeline for additional information. A brief biography of Rodman Law, endnotes citing sources for all individual quotes, a bibliography of books, articles, television programs, movies, and websites as well as an Author's Note round out the ten pages of back matter.
Informative. Fascinating. Engaging, Entertaining. An important addition to collections everywhere.
Don Brown Comics
Brown's historical comics have received numerous awards including Sibert honor awards and the YALSA Nonfiction award. Try these excellent, well-researched graphic novels.
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Rocket History
Explore the history of space travel with these graphic novels.
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Electronic copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: March 5, 2019 Publisher: Amulet Books ISBN: 978-1419734045

I love the idea of this book. The content ends up falling flat and losing the interest of the kids though. I am not sure if it because of lacking color or the information is not engaging enough.

Our 8 year old loves graphic novels and he loves non-fiction books and this was a great mix of both. The comic strip style narration kept his attention while also giving him lots of awesome and informative facts about the moon landing. The history of rocket building was especially interesting to him and he loved referring to the timeline at the end of the book. Not only was this fun to read but he learned a lot! Thank you to NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for gifting us a copy of this book. All opinions are our own.

This is my first Brown Book, but it will not be my last! Rocket to the moon! takes us back in time to when we, of course, landed on the moon, but in such a fresh and fun way! I was literally sharing interest facts with my husband as I read through this comic-like children’s book! Such as the shuttle held 950,000 gallons of fuel and used up 500,000 gallons of it within the first two and a half minutes! Wow! That is awesome!.
The illustrations were wonderful and I loved everything about the book! I am impressed!
Thank you so much ABRAMS Kids and NetGalley for this advanced copy. My opinions are my own.
This will definitely be featured on my blog! Expect to see it Monday December 3, 2018.
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