What do you think?
Rate this book
To The Moon
The exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of the Earth's orbit and reach the moon, by the best-selling author of Apollo 13.
What's more exciting than spaceships and astronauts? How about a spaceship carrying the first astronauts ever to see the moon firsthand--on Christmas!
The year was 1968, and the American people were still reeling from the spacecraft fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew a year earlier. On top of that, there were rumors that the Russian cosmonauts were getting ready to fly around the moon. NASA realized that they needed to take a bold step--and that they needed to take it now. They wanted to win the space race against Russia and hold true to President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. So in a risky move, a few days before Christmas of that year, they sent Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders to the moon!
This book about the exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of Earth's orbit and reach the moon, tells the story of these three brave men, the frantic rush to get their rocket ready, and the journey that gave the American people--and the world--a new look at the planet we live on and the corner of space we inhabit.
Filled with the science and training required to put a person into space, and every detail of what it's like to live in a spaceship for days on end (including what happens when astronauts need to use the bathroom), this book is sure to leave kids clamoring for a spot on the next mission to outer space.
Includes a bonus PDF with Apollo 8 glossary and photos
What's more exciting than spaceships and astronauts? How about a spaceship carrying the first astronauts ever to see the moon firsthand--on Christmas!
The year was 1968, and the American people were still reeling from the spacecraft fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew a year earlier. On top of that, there were rumors that the Russian cosmonauts were getting ready to fly around the moon. NASA realized that they needed to take a bold step--and that they needed to take it now. They wanted to win the space race against Russia and hold true to President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. So in a risky move, a few days before Christmas of that year, they sent Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders to the moon!
This book about the exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of Earth's orbit and reach the moon, tells the story of these three brave men, the frantic rush to get their rocket ready, and the journey that gave the American people--and the world--a new look at the planet we live on and the corner of space we inhabit.
Filled with the science and training required to put a person into space, and every detail of what it's like to live in a spaceship for days on end (including what happens when astronauts need to use the bathroom), this book is sure to leave kids clamoring for a spot on the next mission to outer space.
Includes a bonus PDF with Apollo 8 glossary and photos
Audio CD
First published March 20, 2018
33 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Kluger
29 books218 followersJeffrey Kluger is Editor at Large at Time, where he has written more than 45 cover stories. Coauthor of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, which was the basis for the movie Apollo 13, he is also the author of 13 other books including his latest book Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 27, 2018
I'm now a big fan of young readers editions to well-known nonfiction for adults and this one solidified that for me. I'll be writing a post soon about them and this one in particular.
This one follows the three men: Borman, Anders, and Lovell as they ended up taking an earlier space mission that took them to the moon (not on it just yet) than their intended Apollo mission during Christmas 1968. Kluger captures the pre-flights and missions including some disasters and the space race, then goes into lovely narrative detail about the three men including some humorous, well-researched, and serious events. I was touched by the writing related to their families and their coping during these times, specifically Marilyn Lovell's "act of charity" giving a few photos to a guy camped out to get some photos so he could go back to his family for Christmas then only to receive a package later in the day (a mink coat) from "the main in the moon" or how Fred and Ed Borman, the two teenage sons "tried not to be knuckleheads" while his father was up in space.
It paints a well-rounded picture of the intricacy and deadly space travel but how the advances in technology are attributed to space travel even when people feel that it is money ill-spent. The narrative style is fantastically engaging and as they point out in the end, all nonfiction and not historical making it fabulous for STEM incorporation, but a great collective biography of these men and space exploration in general from the flight directors on down to the human computers. I then Googled the "Earthrise" image that Anders took and am still amazed by the beauty... if ever.
Told in chronological order, the entirety of the story including their landing and what they did next (Borman slapped the container he rode back to Earth in and then walked away) while the two others went on to continue in the space program.
This one follows the three men: Borman, Anders, and Lovell as they ended up taking an earlier space mission that took them to the moon (not on it just yet) than their intended Apollo mission during Christmas 1968. Kluger captures the pre-flights and missions including some disasters and the space race, then goes into lovely narrative detail about the three men including some humorous, well-researched, and serious events. I was touched by the writing related to their families and their coping during these times, specifically Marilyn Lovell's "act of charity" giving a few photos to a guy camped out to get some photos so he could go back to his family for Christmas then only to receive a package later in the day (a mink coat) from "the main in the moon" or how Fred and Ed Borman, the two teenage sons "tried not to be knuckleheads" while his father was up in space.
It paints a well-rounded picture of the intricacy and deadly space travel but how the advances in technology are attributed to space travel even when people feel that it is money ill-spent. The narrative style is fantastically engaging and as they point out in the end, all nonfiction and not historical making it fabulous for STEM incorporation, but a great collective biography of these men and space exploration in general from the flight directors on down to the human computers. I then Googled the "Earthrise" image that Anders took and am still amazed by the beauty... if ever.
Told in chronological order, the entirety of the story including their landing and what they did next (Borman slapped the container he rode back to Earth in and then walked away) while the two others went on to continue in the space program.
July 5, 2023
Well written. Gripping at points. Reveals the unbelievable amount of work that had to be done before someone could step foot on the moon and focuses on the less well known trip to orbit the moon, the Apollo 8 trip - a trip that was essential to putting humans on the moon.
As a classroom teacher or librarian, I'd book talk this and recommend to 5th-8th grade students who are interested in this topic or any kind of engineering, design problem-solving topics. (The reader needs to be pretty savvy; background knowledge on the topic is helpful.)
Kluger & Shamir seemed to have nailed their audience through their storytelling (sprinkled with harrowing moments) but also in their explanations of the more difficult concepts NASA had to grapple with to make this all happen (e.g., the physics of space travel, the calculations done to plan the trip and so forth). They weave in interesting facts that are easier to understand to give the younger reader a mental break--facts about how the astronauts peed, facts about what happens when you are nauseous in small space, fact about the size of the rockets, etc. There are very clear that run throughout the book -
*the laser focus of Frank Borman, the captain of the Apollo 8 endeavor, that helped him succeed
*the need for the collaboration of thousands of people on this project
*the power of the Apollo 8 trip to awe billions of people around the globe
*the role of perseverance in making the Apollo 8 trip happen and successfully
*the role of meticulous attention to detail in making the Apollo 8 trip happen
and more.
I'd suggest BOOK TALKING this so that students will be more likely to pick it up. You might pose questions to pique student curiosity and then leave in the classroom library or hand to the "just right" reader for this book. As part of the book talk, here are some questions you might share:
*Why go to the moon?
*Why would you want to orbit the moon before trying to land on it?
*What happens when you are nauseous and in a space with two other humans that is only the size of a large car?
*What is it like to pee and eat in a space capsule the size of a VW bug? With another human being right next to you?
*How many people does it take to make a trip to the moon happen?
*Why would you want to pay close attention to every detail?
Kluger has another book out for a younger audience Disaster Strikes! The Most Dangerous Space Missions of All Time that I'm looking forward to reading next.
As a classroom teacher or librarian, I'd book talk this and recommend to 5th-8th grade students who are interested in this topic or any kind of engineering, design problem-solving topics. (The reader needs to be pretty savvy; background knowledge on the topic is helpful.)
Kluger & Shamir seemed to have nailed their audience through their storytelling (sprinkled with harrowing moments) but also in their explanations of the more difficult concepts NASA had to grapple with to make this all happen (e.g., the physics of space travel, the calculations done to plan the trip and so forth). They weave in interesting facts that are easier to understand to give the younger reader a mental break--facts about how the astronauts peed, facts about what happens when you are nauseous in small space, fact about the size of the rockets, etc. There are very clear that run throughout the book -
*the laser focus of Frank Borman, the captain of the Apollo 8 endeavor, that helped him succeed
*the need for the collaboration of thousands of people on this project
*the power of the Apollo 8 trip to awe billions of people around the globe
*the role of perseverance in making the Apollo 8 trip happen and successfully
*the role of meticulous attention to detail in making the Apollo 8 trip happen
and more.
I'd suggest BOOK TALKING this so that students will be more likely to pick it up. You might pose questions to pique student curiosity and then leave in the classroom library or hand to the "just right" reader for this book. As part of the book talk, here are some questions you might share:
*Why go to the moon?
*Why would you want to orbit the moon before trying to land on it?
*What happens when you are nauseous and in a space with two other humans that is only the size of a large car?
*What is it like to pee and eat in a space capsule the size of a VW bug? With another human being right next to you?
*How many people does it take to make a trip to the moon happen?
*Why would you want to pay close attention to every detail?
Kluger has another book out for a younger audience Disaster Strikes! The Most Dangerous Space Missions of All Time that I'm looking forward to reading next.
October 18, 2019
I enjoyed this true narrative about the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. You always hear about Apollo 11 (first moon landing) and 13 (astronauts nearly died in space), but 8 was equally important because it was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.
The research and resulting details are astonishing. Kluger held nothing back. He focused mostly on Borman, who was the commander, but spared no details about Lovell, Anders and their families. He begins by describing the Gemini missions which put manned spacecraft into orbit. Then he describes the Apollo moon missions and the devastating launch pad fire that killed 3 astronauts. Then on to the Apollo 8 launch and every single detail of the flight, communications, and media frenzy. Be forewarned that there is A LOT of science for you to digest. Readers who love to understand how things work will love this aspect of the book. The rest may get tired of it after awhile. I did grow weary eventually with an overload of detail. I felt like I was being fed more than I needed, but most of it was quite interesting, especially the personal stuff.
I recommend this to space fanatics, science geeks, and adults (yes, adults read kid's books). As good as it is, it's a harder sell for most kids.
The research and resulting details are astonishing. Kluger held nothing back. He focused mostly on Borman, who was the commander, but spared no details about Lovell, Anders and their families. He begins by describing the Gemini missions which put manned spacecraft into orbit. Then he describes the Apollo moon missions and the devastating launch pad fire that killed 3 astronauts. Then on to the Apollo 8 launch and every single detail of the flight, communications, and media frenzy. Be forewarned that there is A LOT of science for you to digest. Readers who love to understand how things work will love this aspect of the book. The rest may get tired of it after awhile. I did grow weary eventually with an overload of detail. I felt like I was being fed more than I needed, but most of it was quite interesting, especially the personal stuff.
I recommend this to space fanatics, science geeks, and adults (yes, adults read kid's books). As good as it is, it's a harder sell for most kids.
October 30, 2018
Fantastic book delving into the timeline of the Apollo 8 mission, including how it came about, where the astronauts came from, and how they succeeded in their mission. Main takeaway for me is how nail-biting the things were at the time (and probably still are). For me I definitely had an idealized version of how NASA was able to make the Apollo 8 mission a success. Of course after reading this book it's more like anything else in life: that it takes a lot of failure to succeed. I appreciate knowing this, even if it does cause a bit of anxiety. The incredible nature of dealing with gravity on astronomical levels is that sure, there was a lot of failure; but those learning experiences needed to shape into near-perfection in order to be able to hit the correct tolerances. For anything as big as hitting the appropriate return orbit to something as small as figuring out how to shave in space, these experiences had a requirement of being well thought out; I think Jeffrey Kluger does a fantastic job explaining this throughout the book, which is why I think it deserves five stars.
March 11, 2022
I enjoyed reading about the experiences of everyone involved with the Apollo 8 spaceship before and after arriving in space. In parts of the book, it reads like a fiction book, this is a nice touch, it gives a full picture of the families on earth and what the astronauts are going through. Book has a nice collection of pictures in the back and an Apollo 8 Glossary. This Children's book is put together well and gives a well-rounded look into the mission to beat the Russian cosmonauts on the space race.
October 3, 2018
Being a NASA nerd, this book was definitely for me. This is the story of the Apollo space program, how it began with the tragedy of Apollo 1 and ended with the Apollo 8 mission that had the first astronauts to travel around the moon. The story has lots of suspense and focuses on the three Apollo 8 astronauts experiences both before and during this mission. Great book about the beginning of the space race and how NASA persevered through the many struggles during the 1960's.
May 4, 2022
I found this a very easy read. It included some facts and figures, some background into the families of the astronauts and some amusing stories from the flight around the moon. It talked about the background of the pilots and the years leading up to this flight. Having visited Cape Kennedy, it was great to be able to picture some of what was being discussed.
Any fans of space travel, would find this an interesting book.
Any fans of space travel, would find this an interesting book.
June 2, 2019
The story of NASA’s 1968 Apollo 8 mission, retold for teen-aged readers. Written in the style of a novel, the factual narrative details the risky mission designed to help America win the space race by sending three astronauts into lunar orbit shortly before the end of the year.
Although middle grade readers are the targeted audience for this book, the reading level of the narrative is 8.9 and its Lexile Level is 1180, levels designated as appropriate for advanced eighth grade readers/proficient ninth grade readers. Parents and educators should be aware of the disparity between the targeted audience and the actual reading level of the book as younger/less proficient readers may find it too difficult to read independently.
However, readers with an interest in space exploration and the lunar landings will find much to appreciate here in this difficult-to-set-aside book.
Both an extensive Apollo 8 glossary and a picture section follow the narrative.
Recommended.
Although middle grade readers are the targeted audience for this book, the reading level of the narrative is 8.9 and its Lexile Level is 1180, levels designated as appropriate for advanced eighth grade readers/proficient ninth grade readers. Parents and educators should be aware of the disparity between the targeted audience and the actual reading level of the book as younger/less proficient readers may find it too difficult to read independently.
However, readers with an interest in space exploration and the lunar landings will find much to appreciate here in this difficult-to-set-aside book.
Both an extensive Apollo 8 glossary and a picture section follow the narrative.
Recommended.
May 13, 2019
I really enjoyed this non-fiction book about Apollo 8. Apollo 8 was about orbiting around the moon and taking pictures of the moon to help them decide where to land for Apollo 11. Not knowing a lot of the Apollo 8 I learned many things.
March 2, 2020
Very informative, even if it is the juvenile history version. I did look up the adult version, but this had so much information that I thought it would almost be reading the same book. Learned quite a bit!
May 27, 2018
Love books about the space program abbs this one didn't disappoint! Helped me figure out the memory I have of watching was this mission.
June 20, 2018
Enjoyable, not overly technical story of the Apollo 8 mission, first to orbit the moon.
August 28, 2018
Excellent details of the first crewed flight to orbit the moon. It makes you realize what an amazing feat it was to accomplish.
September 4, 2018
It was boring
December 4, 2018
This first mission to circle the moon prepared NASA for the 1969 moon landing mission. It also gave us the now famous photograph "Earthrise."
July 4, 2019
I loved listening to this book! It described the dangers and deaths the astronauts faced in their race to the moon with the Cold War hovering in the background! Amazing story of true heroes!
December 27, 2019
A thorough account of the Apollo 8 mission in a very readable nonfiction narrative. Includes glossary, photos, and index.
November 11, 2021
Excellent read, NASA and the Space Program continues to be relevant as well as inspirational.
May 1, 2022
Excellent recounting of the events leading up to and during the first human orbit of the moon. A must read (or listen) for anyone interested in the history of manned spaceflight.
Read
May 1, 2023Apollo 11. Science.
May 3, 2023
Apollo 8 spaceship.
July 27, 2025
solidified my lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut and searching for infinite possibilities in the cosmos. earthrise is my favorite image of all time and forever will be.
June 22, 2021
I have read a version of this book before, but it was really fun reviewing all of the places in Frank Borman's life, ending with the climax of the book, the Apollo 8 mission. Great book, by the way.
January 15, 2019
The story: President John Kennedy challenged the nation to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Here's the story of a giant milestone on the way to the first moonwalk: getting three men in a rocket to orbit the moon, take pictures, and record things no human being had ever seen before. You don't know the whole story of putting men on the moon until you read this record of an important part of the journey.
Non-fiction--June Cleaver's ratings don't apply, but good for 7th grade and up.
Liz's comments: I thought this was terrific. Kluger's writing is very accessible, even when he's describing scientific concepts. Even so, this isn't a book for younger kids--best for good readers in 7th grade and up. Hand it to your nonfiction-loving GT guys.
Non-fiction--June Cleaver's ratings don't apply, but good for 7th grade and up.
Liz's comments: I thought this was terrific. Kluger's writing is very accessible, even when he's describing scientific concepts. Even so, this isn't a book for younger kids--best for good readers in 7th grade and up. Hand it to your nonfiction-loving GT guys.
February 28, 2019
In To the Moon!, follow the Apollo 8 astronauts in their training and mission! Learn about the intense trainings. Learn about the mission. How it progressed. The pain from the missions. Learn about the Apollo 8 mission in To The Moon!
600-699-applied-science
December 2, 2019629.4
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews