Each year, July 20th commemorates the anniversary of the day that Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon. Ever since, kids have been fascinated with space and becoming astronauts. Below are 12 award-winning books that will delight your child and fill their curiosity about space and the moon:
Baby & Pre-K
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Ages 2–5
When Little Star’s Mama takes the Big Mooncake out of the oven, all Little Star can think about the Bib Mooncake. Each night she takes a tiny nibble and the Big Mooncakes shape gradually changes from round to crescent to nothing at all. This book has received 8 awards including 2019 Caldecott Award, 2019 Charlotte Zolotow Award, & School Library Journal Best Books of the Year.
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Age: 3-5
When Kitten sees her first full moon overhead, she’s sure it’s a bowl of milk in the sky. Although she runs and runs, the moon never seems to get any closer. Will she ever find it? This board book has received 6 Awards including Caldecott Medal, Charlotte Zolotow Award & NY Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Age: 1-4
In a great green room, tucked away in bed there is a little bunny who says goodnight to everything in his room. This board book is a great way to get your little one ready to say goodnight as part of their bedtime routine. Goodnight Moon is one of the best selling picture books and has earned a Parents' Choice Gold Award and a Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award.
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Age: 3-7
Late one winter night, a young girl and her father go searching for owls in the woods. Through the silence, they call out “whoo-whoo-whoo” and wait for a response. Join the two as they explore the wonders of the forest at night. This picture book is winner of the Caldecott Medal and CCBC Choices.
Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky by Elphinstone Dayrell
Ages: 4-7
Sun and his wife, Moon, used to live on the Earth. They had a large house, and humans were able to visit them. But so many people came that they were forced to move to the sky. This picture book reinterprets an African folktale about the Moon and the Sun and is a Caldecott Honor Book.
Elementary School
ABCs from Space by Adam Voiland
Ages 6-10
Twenty-six satellite images of Earth from space reveal the letters of the alphabet in their natural or man-made formations. Each thumbnail is accompanied by additional information about the photo, including where it is located on Earth, the date it was taken, which of four orbiting satellites took the image, and whether the image is natural-color (light visible to the human eye) or false-color (capturing light both visible and invisible to the human eye). This book has received awards from Outstanding Science Trade Books, CCBC Choices, and Junior Library Guild Selections.
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly and Laura Freeman
Ages 6-9
“Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math. Really good.” In the 1940s and 1950s, Dorothy, Mary and Katherine worked for the U.S. space agency (now NASA) as computers—people who calculated complex math. Christine joined NASA in 1967 to work on the Apollo 11 mission, knowing her dream of being an engineer was made possible in part because of the three African American women who broke ground before her. This picture book is based on Shetterly’s adult book.
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
Ages 5–10
Brian Floca provides the technical details and achievements of the Apollo 11 mission, as well as the sense of anticipation. Youth will enjoy reading about the challenges of eating, bathing, and going to the bathroom in space and the details of the step-by-step account of liftoff and stages of rocket separation.. Winner of 9 awards including ALSC Notable Children's Books, Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Nonfiction, SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
Ages 9-12
Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade. Bird dreams of becoming the first female shuttle commander. When the Challenger shuttle explodes, Bird is devastated by the tragedy, which changes all of the Nelson Thomas kids lives and brings them together in unexpected ways. Winner of 6 Awards including John Newbery Medal, ALSC Notable Children's Books, and School Library Journal Best Books of the Year.
Middle School
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
Ages 10–15
It took a lot of people to send astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon in 1969! Author Catherine Thimmesh describes the people who were behind the scenes of making the space mission successful from conception through splashdown. This book has 8 Awards including Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, Outstanding Science Trade Books, and SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
To the Moon!: The True Story of the American Heroes on the Apollo 8 Spaceship v by Jeffrey Kluger and Ruby Shamir
grades 4-12
This is an exciting book about inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of Earth's orbit and reach the moon. Filled with the science and training required to put a person into space, this book is sure to leave kids clamoring for a spot on the next mission to outer space. Awards include Christopher Award for Young People and Junior Library Guild Selections.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
This is the true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades, the challenges they faced, and how they changed history. The book reached number one on The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list and received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction.
