Comic Book Review: Neil Armstrong Walks on the Moon written by Nel Yomtov, illustrations by Samir Barrett and Dave Wheeler
Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first human to walk on the moon in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 mission to that satellite of Earth. This children’s graphic novel is about that mission.
This slim volume is part of the “Extraordinary Explorers” line by Bellwether Media, meant for readers third grade and up. It’s very focused on the mission itself and doesn’t get into who Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins were as people. The presentation is fact-based, and quotes from the actual recordings of the mission are in red ink.
The art is adequate to the purpose, with strong use of photo reference to be accurate. This comes, however, at the cost of being a bit stiff and dull.
The book is a hardcover, made sturdy for use in school libraries and for being passed from one child to another as they get older. It comes with a glossary for the more difficult words, a bibliography of other books on the subject for further research, and an index. Bright nine-year-olds should be able to get through it with minimal guidance, though adults might need to explain who Richard Nixon was.
Lieutenant Armstrong and his colleagues were among my childhood heroes, and this is a good choice for a child’s introduction to real-life astronauts. Consider it as a gift for young science and science fiction fans.
