Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing and then returned to Earth. The three astronauts—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to see and photograph the far side of the Moon and an Earthrise.
William Alison Anders was an American United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph.
Deborah Hopkinson is an American writer of over seventy children's books, primarily historical fiction, nonfiction and picture books.
Earthrise is a photograph of Earth and part of the Moon's surface that was taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission. Nature photographer Galen Rowell described it as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken".
Jan Thomas is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She lives in Socorro, New Mexico and has published three books with Harcourt Trade Publishers: What Will Fat Cat Sit On?, A Birthday for Cow, and The Doghouse; and three with Simon & Schuster's new children's imprint, Beach Lane Books, Can You Make a Scary Face?, Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Here Comes the Big Mean Dust Bunny!, and in September 2011, Is Everyone Ready for Fun?.
Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". She is also the only two-time recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature for Dig (2019) and as editor and contributor to The Collectors: Stories (2023).
Candace Groth Fleming is an American writer of children's books, both fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-honored The Family Romanov and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns, among others.
Courtney Summers is a Canadian writer of young adult fiction. Her most famous known works are Cracked Up to Be (2008), This Is Not a Test (2012), All the Rage (2015), and Sadie (2018).
Melissa Sweet is an American illustrator and writer of nearly 100 books for children and young readers.
First to the Moon: The Story of Apollo 8 is a 2018 documentary film about the second crewed spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program, which launched on December 21, 1968. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it, and return safely to Earth. The film was released in December 2018 and has been screened at The Explorers Club in New York City, the Kansas Cosmosphere, and Arizona State University.
Martin W. Sandler is an American historian, writer and teacher, the author of more than 50 books about American history and photography. Notable works include Secret Subway (2009), The Impossible Rescue (2012), Imprisoned (2013), How the Beatles Changed the World (2014), Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation (2015), The Whydah (2017), Apollo 8 (2018), 1919 (2019), and Race Through the Skies (2020). Among other honors, he won the 2019 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
Chris Barton is an American author of children's books. His books has been included on numerous lists citing the best children's books of the year.
The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found is a 2017 nonfiction children's book by Martin W. Sandler about the Whydah, "a large, fast, and heavily armed slave ship", which was captured by pirates in 1716 and sunk shortly after. The ship was rediscovered on the ocean's floor in the 1980s, along with its tremendous riches. Throughout the book, Sandler discusses the pirates, led by Samuel Bellamy, "the causes and practices of piracy", including their "barbarous cruelty", as well as the more democratic nature of their culture.
The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure is a 2012 nonfiction children's book by American author Martin W. Sandler. The book explores the rescue of eight whaling ships trapped in the ice of the Arctic Ocean in the winter of 1897.
1919: The Year That Changed America is a 2019 non-fiction children's book by American author Martin W. Sandler. The book details various events from 1919, including the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, "which led to building code, municipal oversight, and corporate liability precedents", the Nineteenth Amendment's passing, racial tensions, the Red Scare, changing labor conditions, and the beginning of prohibition. Beyond discussing the events themselves, Sandler explain the long-standing impact of each in the United States.
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II is a 2013 non-fiction children's book by American writer and historian Martin W. Sandler. The book describes the lives of Japanese Americans before, during, and after their time in internment camps during World War II, as well as Japanese Americans who served in the United States military during the war.
Secret Subway: The Fascinating Tale of an Amazing Feat of Engineering is a 2009 non-fiction children's book by American writer and historian Martin W. Sandler. The book discusses the construction of the first subway in New York City under the guidance of American inventor, publisher, and patent lawyer Alfred Ely Beach (1826–1896). Construction on the tunnel began secretly, occurring throughout the night, and was completed just before the economic collapse of 1873. The book contains photographs from the time period, as well as maps to support to the text.
How the Beatles Changed the World is a 2014 non-fiction children's book by American writer and historian Martin W. Sandler. The book details the history of the English rock band The Beatles, organized topically with "thematic chapters on the band's impact on individual aspects of culture", ranging from their impact on fashion to "the feelings that Western music stirred in young people east of the Iron Curtain". The book draws heavily from "contemporary interviews with band members themselves and those close to them" and contains various relevant photographs.
Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad is a 2015 non-fiction children's book by American writer and historian Martin W. Sandler. The book details the creation of the transcontinental railroad through competing companies, including "the greed, corruption, and violence that followed the tracks". Like Sandler's other books, Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation includes various contemporary photographs.
Race Through the Skies: The Week the World Learned to Fly is a 2020 non-fiction children's book by the American writer and historian Martin W. Sandler. The book focuses on a single week in August 1908 that "introduced aviation to the world", the week of an early air show and competition in Reims. Like Sandler's other books, Race Through the Skies includes contemporary photographs, newspaper clippings, and posters alongside the text, as well as detailed information about key characters in the book, including the Wright brothers, Glenn Curtiss, Jorge Chávez, and Louis Blériot.
