Children's Space Books Books

Challenger The Final Voyage by Richard Lewis is a must-read for anyone interested in the Challenger tragedy of January 1986. Upon writing this work, Lewis was a long-time writer and editor of scientific publications and had written several books on space exploration including "The Voyages of Columbia" in 1984. Lewis uses this expertise to write a very clear explanation on what happened to Challenger and the faulty decision making process that allowed the tragic event to take place. While the book is very technical, it is written in a way that even a reader such as myself who has no engineering background can follow along and understand. Many illustrations and photos are provided to further clarify very complex matters.

The book starts with an eerie dialogue that went on between the Challenger crew and Houston right to the moment of the explosion. What follows is a look at what went wrong and, most importantly, what was known to be a weakness to the rocket booster structure years before the ill-fated launch. The most frustrating part of the Challenger story is that the cause of the shuttle's demise was not something out of the blue that puzzled the experts, but a concern that was voiced for years before and right up to the launch. That this tragedy could have easily been avoided is the saddest fact of all.

Lewis' thorough account of the investigation following the accident demonstrates a fundamental debility in communication at NASA that, unfortunately, proved fatal again in the Columbia disaster. Lewis' book includes early concerns from Rockwell International (the orbiter's prime contractor) that an icicle may have damaged Challenger's heat shield causing the break-up and another voiced concern about insulation from the external tank hitting the heat absorbent tiles (pp. 30 & 134). The latter caused the Columbia tragedy 17 years later. One remarkable point that came out in an appendix to the Presidential Commission's report on the accident is the astronomical optimism gap between engineers and managers. Concerning the space shuttle program, engineers saw the probability for loss to be 1 in 100, for the managers this probability was 1 in 100,000 (pp. 212 & 215). I was in the sixth grade when the Challenger tragedy occurred. I remember my teacher explaining what had happened on the overhead projector. I had no idea what he was talking about. Perhaps he was planning on showing the lessons of Christa McAuliffe (who was to be the first teacher in space) to the class. Due to the dismissal of so many warning signs, McAuliffe was robbed of this experience (and, most horribly, her life) and millions of students were robbed of the chance to learn about space through her eyes. The Challenger tragedy touched the lives of people far beyond those directly involved and the family members. It can never be forgotten.

This Roald Dahl book picks up where "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" left off. Willy Wonka, Charlie, Charlie's parents and both sets of Charlie's grandparents (Grandpa Joe, Grandma Josephine, Grandpa George, and Grandma Georgina) along with their big bed all go for a ride in the great glass elevator right after Mr. Wonka has just told Charlie that he is going to give him the Chocolate Factory. The book is split up into two parts, the first of which is where they take a trip out into space in the elevator to visit a new space hotel that is just opening up and have to fight off some space aliens called the "Vermicious Knids" that can twist their bodies into letters and like to eat people. While they are in space they are mistaken for aliens themselves when they are scene by the "commuter capsule" that is on it's way to the hotel to drop off the hotel staff. (The book was written in 1972 so they didn't use the term "space shuttle" as of yet). Shuckworth, Shanks, and Showler are the names of the three astronauts flying the commuter capsule (they sound like a law firm), and when they see the great glass elevator docking with the hotel ahead of them they report this to the president. The president is portrayed as a big kid who can't do anything unless he has his nurse's permission. Mrs. Tibbs was the president's nurse/nanny when he was growing up and he had made her his vice-president. There were some funny scenes here with the astronauts and president, but this first part seemed a little dated for the most part. It was also a little annoying in the beginning when all of the four grandparents were in the elevator, and Dahl felt compelled to provide them all with one or two word lines anytime one of them spoke. While the first part was slightly amusing but seemed a little dated at times, the second part however was excellent. In the second part they return to the wonderful Chocolate Factory and Mr. Wonka does some experimenting with drugs that will either make you older or younger. After having experimented on volunteer Oompa-Loompas for years he eventually had invented Wonka-vite that makes you twenty years younger, and Vita-Wonk that makes you twenty years older. Some problems occur however when Wonka tries to use these on Charlie's grandparents and they can't remember exactly how old they currently are. When Grandma Georgina takes too much Wonka-vite she is turned into a minus and Mr. Wonka and Charlie have to go to Minusland in the glass elevator to rescue her. Along the way they see some other marvelous parts of the factory, including a rock candy mountain. I'd love to see someone make a movie sequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by expounding upon the second part of this book. This was another great book by Roald Dahl, and as usual Quentin Blake's illustrations are excellent and added immensely to the story.

My son read this book to me for Health. It was a quick overview of the circulatory system including the heart, blood, lugs, arteries & veins, heart attack, and heart health. Photos accompanied the easy text. I would recommend it for the 2-3rd grade range.

This book is great for Christian families who want to teach scientific concepts to their children in a manner that is consistent with their faith. My son is 4 so some of the scripture passages and scientific theories are a bit lost on him, but the illustrations are enjoyable to him and he is able to "pick " the experiments he wants to do. Most of the experiments involve readily available items and we didn't need to "shop" before starting. A very minor criticism would be the lack of information about age-appropriateness on the cover. We will enjoy this book even more as my son gets older.

This book covers aviation from it's earliest beginnings. There are many books on this subject, but this one stands out.

The book is amazingly concise, and yet it covers all of the important developments in aviation. My experience as a lifelong aviation enthusiast and private pilot makes me a good judge of this material. This book is intended for kids, but it has something even and old "fly boy" like me can enjoy.

The pictures in this book are striking in detail. Along with many other fantastic pictures, this book has the finest picture of a Bleriot XI that I have ever seen. The detail is unparalleled.

This is a book intended for children, but anyone would learn a great deal from it.

Explained in very simple terms and concepts for the younger readers, well illustrated. Only real error is on page 7 where the picture that goes with the F-15 caption is that of a Navy F-14 Tomcat.

The book was about astronauts orbiting in out space. It gives details of what they do when they have to eat, go to the bathroom, etc. It also explains about gravity and how the astronauts deal with gravity issues while they are in space. The book talks about how the space shuttle takes off and lands and how jobs would be done while on board.
I liked this book because it teaches children about things that happen in outer space in ways that they can easily understand. It had great Pictures that illustrated the materials that astronauts would use while they were in space and it also showed certain techniques that they would use to do tasks while on the space shuttle.
I think with this book the author was really trying to illustrate the ways things happen while astronauts are in orbit. He was trying to write and illustrate all the things that happen so that kids can understand it. The author tries to create a book were the children really feel like they are going into space and what that would be like.

Flying Free is a good book about some black avitors and aviatrics. It is good to learn about black history since it is about black flyers. It includes new flyers and black astronauts. It has some information on some black flyers clubs. I just wish it was longer and had more information and more pilots.

It was yet another great book by Grace Chetwin. In this book friends cannot be seperated by time. This book is delightful and should be on fantasy lover's bookshelves. Friendship is a wonderful thing, and imagine being friends with someone before your time (or in the past). Well, your imagination will be satisfied with this great book!

In this new picture book, a little boy fantasizes travelling to the moon with his grandfather, a former astronaut who walked on the moon. When Grandfather visits, Grandson insists he tell him of his journey, and the boy creates of the telling his own trip, beginning with the launchpad in Florida. A basic amount of scientific observation is worked into the tale, and a cross-generational sweetness pervades it all. A good choice for introducing the ideas of space travel and other worlds to preschool and primary students and children. As a children's librarian I have read Grandpa Takes Me to the Moon to several classes, with positive results.