On July 20, 1969, something momentous happened.

Two human beings walked on the moon!

It’s the kind of occurence that, if you were old enough to know what was going on, you probably remember exactly what you were doing. My husband and I were on our first cross-country trip. We’d left NYC at 11:30pm (because we were so excited, we couldn’t wait for the morning) on June 29, 1969. We were both teachers and were taking the entire summer to travel. And by July 20th, we had made our way to Bakersfield, California. Here is my journal entry:

It is Sunday, July 20, and we are at our motel. Today we drove about 150 miles and toured through the Italian Swiss Colony Wine factory and tasted a little, too. Tomorrow we will go into San Francisco and go to the AAA office to make reservations and plot out our stay in the city. By the way – it is really an historic night – the astronauts have landed on the moon and are walking around there – HALLELUJAH!!!

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of that amazing feat. And to help celebrate, we’ve got a very special weekend planned here on Picture Books Help Kids Soar.

Today we are turning the spotlight on ALIANA REACHES FOR THE MOON…with a giveaway of a copy of the book thanks to the generosity of the fabulous debut author author. And tomorrow the lovely Laura Roettiger will be stopping by to chat and share a fabulous treat recipe. Then on Sunday, we have another special guest. But more about that later. Right now, it picture book review time!

ALIANA REACHES FOR THE MOON

Written by Laura Roettiger

Illustrated by Ariel Boroff

Published by Eifrig Publishing (2019)

Ages: 5-8

Themes: Moon, scientific method, family

Synopsis: From Amazon:

Aliana loves observing everything in nature. Noticing how bright the light of the moon is in her bedroom, she spends time learning about the moon and experimenting with light. As she prepares for her brother’s birthday, she plans for a wonderful surprise to be revealed at the next full moon.

Why I love this book:

• A strong mightygirl who loves science
• Additional layer of family love
• Wonderful story
• Great illustrations that keep the reader turning the pages
• A perfect story to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon walk

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Photo courtesy: https://www.howweelearn.com/moon-activities-for-kids/

For detailed instructions on various moon crafts: https://www.howweelearn.com/moon-activities-for-kids/

Please remember to leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway of a copy of this awesome book. And also remember that the best gifts we can give our favorite authors are:

1. Buy their books
2. Review their books
3. Tell our friends about their books
4. Ask our local library to purchase the books for their collections

And last of all, don’t forget to be back here tomorrow for a super cool interview with the awesome Laura.

Plus on Sunday, we’ll have a special post from self-published author Carmen Gloria. You won’t want to miss that because she is going to chat about her writing journey…and many other journeys. Oh, and there will be a giveaway. of her newest book in her planet series, Dear Pluto. Plus, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon walk, Carmen is giving us a link for a free download on Amazon Kindle of the Dear Pluto ebook.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend!