Review by Booklist Review
This picture-book biography focuses on astronaut John Glenn's remarkable descent to Earth in his Project Mercury capsule, Friendship 7. Glenn and his fellow NASA scientists suspected that the capsule's heat shield may have been damaged, and for several dramatic minutes, while communications were impossible, no one knew if Glenn was alive or dead. Then radio contact was reestablished, and the world learned that an American's first manned orbit of Earth was successful. Readers may need help putting some of the history and science into context, and Hilliard's acrylic illustrations are somewhat stiff in their rendering of people. Even so, the striking images of the powerful rocket's liftoff will capture kids, and sidebars on each page support the narrative with basic facts about Glenn and aeronautics. Overall, this is a competent account of a dramatic moment in the early days of the space program. --Todd Morning Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-Hilliard follows up his Neil, Buzz, and Mike Go to the Moon (Boyds Mills, 2005) with another sketchy but heartfelt tribute to a space-program milestone. Combining brief, general overviews with details presented in smaller type on side panels, he traces Glenn's fascination with flight from childhood through World War II and the Korean conflict, and then describes NASA's fledgling missions, including that of the chimpanzee Ham, "America's first space celebrity." He climaxes his account with Glenn's journey aboard Friendship 7 and closes with a quick look at the astronaut and politician's later career, including a mention of his 1998 return to space. The Earth visible through the capsule's view port is far too small, but the close-up scenes, rendered in thickly applied acrylics, capture a sense of the mission's drama and triumph. There are no leads to further resources, but readers who want to know more can consult Don Mitchell's Liftoff (National Geographic, 2006), another recent addition to an overflowing shelf of Glenn profiles.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Basic text summarizes the key events in John Glenn's life, leading to his historic flight aboard Friendship 7, while sidebar information (in very small type) provides more details; in some cases, readers are expected to have prior knowledge of historical events they aren't likely to have learned about yet. Bold acrylic paintings effectively capture the excitement of their subject's life. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hilliard's biography of John Glenn focuses on his first orbit of the earth in 1962 in Friendship 7, the Mercury capsule, but does briefly mention his early life and history. And on one last double spread, he notes that Glenn "became a prominent U.S. Senator" and even went back into space in 1998. He manages a complicated skein of information by sticking to a straight narrative in very simple language, using sidebars to convey further and more detailed description with stronger vocabulary. The muscular acrylic paintings sometimes have odd edges or finishes; there is one unfortunate image where the astronaut's face is split in two by the page fold. The pictures are dramatic, however, belying the somewhat static text. A way to show very young readers an astronaut story, but Sally Ride's To Space and Back (1986) is much more engaging. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
