All young children dream of traveling to the moon. Faith McNulty will take your children there through her book, If You Decide to Go to the Moon, illustrated by Steven Kellogg.
McNulty uses simple yet entertaining sentences to tell children about what it would be like if they were to travel to the moon. Following along with Kellogg’s colorful and textured illustrations, children will let their imaginations run wild on their travel into space. If You Decide to Go to the Moon is full of information about space, the sun, the Earth, and, of course, the moon. The book focuses on describing the characteristics of the moon, and how one’s travel through space and on the moon would be much different than what they are used to on Earth. When describing to her readers what it would feel like to float around a rocket ship’s cabin, McNulty explains: “Because you are weightless in space, you’ll feel amazingly light. You will float like a feather inside the cabin and bounce off the cabin walls. But you’ll bounce very lightly and find it a lot of fun.” Readers may even be surprised by some of the information McNulty shares. She explains how you would be able to tell where the first Americans walked on the moon, even years later: “Strewn amidst the lunar dust, tools and equipment are scattered about. Their boot prints look fresh, as though they were made a moment ago. There is no wind or rain to wear them away.” If You Decide to Go to the Moon is a wonderful and informative book that children will be excited to explore.
Curriculum Connections
McNulty and Kellogg’s book would be great to use in the classroom when learning about the solar system. Besides its focus on the moon, the book also mentions stars, meteors, and comets. Because of it’s simple style of writing, this book may be read to younger students, but because of its amount of information, it would be a good book to use in grades 2 through 4. If teaching in the state of Virgninia, this would be a great book to apply to SOL 4.7, when studying the relationships between the Earth, moon and sun.
Additional Resources
- Here are some fun moon activities to practice with your students.
- Construct your own moon habitat similar to the one astronauts will live in for a few months on their next trip to the moon!
- Here is a great lesson to teach the phases of the moon, involving a fun hands-on project.
General Information:
Book: If You Decide to Go to the Moon
Author: Faith McNulty
Illustrator: Steven Kellogg
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 48
Grade Range: 2-4
ISBN: 0590483595