Wild Bios: Neil Armswan

by Courtney Acampora, Maggie Fischer, Zoe Persico (Illustrations)

Walk on the Moon with Neil Armswan!

Meet one of history’s greatest figures in this adorable board book with an animal twist! With wings to the future and beak held high, Neil Armswan was a model astronaut and pioneer in space travel, leaving webbed footprints on the moon. With hilarious puns and colorful illustrations, this book brings his legacy and the  Apollo 11  mission to life!

2019 National Parenting Product Award Winner

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

16 pages, Board Book

Published July 9, 2019

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable concept, but I'm not sure how well kids are going to understand this between the puns and the whole biography thing. Either one of those is hard to pull off well for the board book crowd, but the combo of the two is a little ambitious, and it doesn't exactly work. I appreciated it as an adult, though.

[Racheal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea is great. However, the rhyming is terrible, it’s hard to follow the jokes, and it’s just hard to read. It’s difficult to read the stories out loud when you have to stop to mispronounce names. If it were just the dad jokes I’d be ok but purposely changing words so they fit the theme isn’t great for kids to understand.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One small step for swan, one giant leap for birdkind."
This colorful board book tells the story of Neil Armstrong's journey to the moon, but with a cast of animal characters, and hilarious animal puns.

This book follows his life story and legacy, starting from when Neil "Armswan" grew up as the oldest of his "flock" with two siblings. Neil learns to fly, becomes an Eagle Scout, and serves in the Korean War where he receives three air medals as a naval aviator. He becomes a test pilot, and falls in love, starting his own "flock" with his lovebird "Gannet". They "migrate" to Houston with their "cygnets", where Neil launches into orbit in the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions, leaving "webbed" footprints on the Moon.

I loved the silly puns and adorable animal characters! The whole book is so bright and funny, and the legacy and accomplishments are truly inspiring. The writing is perfect to read aloud with young children, and the illustrations are engaging with interesting details in the background to capture the attention of little readers.

This book is also well-timed with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when so many people are celebrating that national accomplishment, and little ones might be wondering what it's all about.

I just love this entire Wild Bios board book series, and every book is gold!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Media Masters Publicity in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Emily Tayler]

This book tells the story of Neil Armstrong and his life story. However, this book is unique because it is told as if he was a swan. Hence where "Armswan" comes from.

I really like how this story was just created in general. It is a very creative way to get kids excited to read an informational book. Using animals is very smart on the authors part because kids are familiar with animals so they will be more engaged in the book.

I would rate this book 5 stars. It is a very creative way to share information on influential people that they might not have heard of. Additionally, the pictures are very detailed and engaging for the students to look at.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, but it was just okay. Having the proper names of things changed was a bit annoying, but the common word jokes were funnier.