First on the Moon: What It Was Like When Man Landed on the Moon

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

July 20, 1999, marked the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing by
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This book relives
their monumental journey from the perspective of Jan, Buzz Aldrin’s
11-year-old daughter. Seeing the moon mission through Jan’s eyes adds
poignancy that is often submerged in the historical hoopla. (For
example, on launch day, while most of the world watched in awe as three
Americans climbed aboard a magnificent space ship that would propel them
into the history books, young Jan saw her dad disappear into a flimsy
metal tube full of explosives and wondered if she would ever see him
again.) The text also contains information about the space mission that
was generally unknown to the public while the moon mission was in
progress. One of the more humorous anecdotes was the struggle Armstrong
and Aldrin had trying to plant the American flag on the moon. The lunar
soil proved much harder than expected, and the two astronauts were
afraid that their flag was going to fall over in front of a television
audience of three billion people.

The text is supported by dozens of authentic photographs, full-color
illustrations, and sidebars that explain the physical forces of space
exploration. For people who can actually remember the moon landing, this
book will rekindle many memories. For younger readers who may think
“space program” is a Star Trek rerun, this book is a wonderful
introduction to a bygone era. Highly recommended.