Reaching for the Moon

Who would guess that the 2-year-old who rode in his father's airplane painted like an eagle would some day be on board the moon lander Eagle? Or that the boy who delighted in his rock collection would one day collect rock samples from the moon's surface? Coincidences are poignant as Buzz Aldrin shares his autobiography with young listeners. His resiliency and determination as a childhood adventurer and athlete carry on to his later years as a young cadet at West Point and then an aspiring astronaut. Aldrin's narration is firm, yet modest. His pacing leaves time to appreciate accomplishments and to savor Wendell Minor's majestic paintings. The musical score complements and completes this recording. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 30, 2005
Aldrin and illustrator Minor (one of six American artists selected to cover the launch of the space shuttle Discovery
in 1988) bring the astronaut's early life and commendable career into stunningly sharp focus.
Aldrin shapes nearly each page into a kind of brief chapter, instantly pulling readers into his easygoing, articulate narrative. For instance, he recalls how, on summer nights during his childhood, "the Moon hung low in the sky, so close to our house that I thought I could reach out and touch the soft white light. I never imagined that one day I would walk on its surface. But maybe it was meant to be. You see, before she was married, my mother's last name was Moon." In another neat coincidence, Aldrin's pilot father took the two-year-old on his first flight in a plane painted to look like an eagle; and, in a craft named Eagle
, Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11
mission.
After recapping earlier events in his life, the author recaptures the thrill of the Eagle
's landing and his and Armstrong's exploration of the moon. Aldrin closes with a stirring afterword encouraging readers to reach for their own moons: "If you set your sights high, you may accomplish more than you ever dreamed was possible." Minor's light-infused art balances lifelike, affecting portraiture and images of various spacecraft in motion, rendered with an almost dizzying clarity. Author and artist clearly aimed high here and easily hit their mark. Ages 6-9.