NASA

Children's Literature - Meagan Albright

This book is highly recommended for children interested in space, astronauts, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One small caveat in this recommendation, it would be better if the words listed in the glossary were indicated in the text of the book by bold type rather than italics. One page 5 alone, the words Sputnik, satellite, Sputnik 2, and atmosphere are italicized, but only two of the words are in the glossary at the back of the book. Every second page of this book features beautiful photographs or artwork detailing an aspect of space flight and the history of NASA. The "Find Out More" section at the end of the book lists a variety of good books and seven websites. Some of the websites may be too advanced for the intended audience of this book, but others, including a NASA website for kids and a gallery of images taken by the Hubble telescope, will serve as wonderful resources for additional information on space. Educators who wish to incorporate this book into a classroom discussion on space flight or the history of American technology and innovation would be best served to incorporate several of the websites listed in the book (along with the book itself) into the instruction.