Robert Burleigh’s One Giant Leap is a wonder. Edge-of-the-seat suspense and lyrical, exquisitely-crafted language transport the reader alongside Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969 as they descend to the surface of the moon:
“The Eagle dips. Hovers. Zigs. Zags.
Dances over its own shadow.
The seconds tick toward eternity. Time stops….
An endless, mysterious wasteland,
Whose distant hills are as sharply outlined as nearby stones.
No water. No wind. No sound.”
Mike Wimmer’s paintings create intriguing perspectives and also feature casual personal portraits of the astronauts completing their work inside the capsules and on the lunar surface. Burleigh's narrative focuses on small details that shed new light on mankind’s most famous footstep. Kangaroo-hops and flag planting may be well-known but have you ever considered the scent of the lunar surface?
“This world is not theirs. Not their own.
Streaks of dirt cover their spacesuits.
The smell of the moondust hits them as they remove their helmets.
“Like spent cap pistols,” they tell each other.”
As the astronauts make their last orbit of the moon, they crowd the portholes to snap a few pictures of the moon’s “billion-year-old landscape.” Burleigh asks “Can a photo capture the wonder of what they’ve seen? Not likely.” I ask, “Can a picture book capture the intensity and monumental accomplishment of human’s first visit to the moon?” “Absolutely.” Any elementary, middle, or high school lesson on space exploration will certainly be enhanced by this poetic and gloriously written book.
Christine! This was one of the books I read for this assignment, but I couldn't figure out if it was really nonfiction or not. I loved it though!
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