Member Reviews
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one fell a little short for me. I just couldn't get behind the story. The pictures were cute.
I loved this book. It was such a powerful message, with such a simple execution. As someone who OBSESSES over things I love and enjoy I can see how Margot feels, and understand the message here about listening and understanding.
For the record, I'd listen to Margot and jab about space too!
This book was absolutely adorable in every way. What better way to get kids who love space into books too? Since this is a kid book, there is not much depth to review--but the pictures were brilliant and fun to look at!
Margot loves space. She uses all her time to learn more facts, and is so excited to share her knowledge. She feels left out and unheard when her mom, teacher, and friends seem uninterested. She finally has enough and let's her emotions out. If you read this just for the story aspect, it is great. This story has an important message for both kids and adults. Kids need help to feel understood and like they aren't alone. Adults need to stop being distracted constantly and be present in the child's life. This book is fantastic and I recommend it for everyone.
This was such a wonderful children's book! It follows the story of Margot, a young girl, who is obsessed with outer space. So much so that it's the only thing she can talk about, and as a result, she has a hard time making friends. A young girl who's very specific interests makes it difficult to fit in was all too relatable for me.
The story illustrates that individual interests are a good thing, and deserve positive outlets. It also contains an important message for parents: listen to your children and pay attention to what they enjoy, and help foster spaces for them to grow and thrive and succeed. A quirky interest may seem like a phase, but can also lead to so much more.
The illustrations were enjoyable, the dialogue was simple and easy to understand, and the diversity was wonderful to see in a children's book. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and think it would be great for many young readers.
Thank you to the publisher, Annick Press, for providing me with a digital copy via NetGalley.
I had a hard time with this picture book; at first. I couldn’t get my head around it. Try as I may, I stumbled over and over its pages. And then I realized what was wrong. As an adult, I was meant to stumble. The book, in its brilliance, gives adults a candid look at how a child feels when she is completely ignored, set aside, and looked over– all in the guise of an innocent picture book. For children, it gives voice to their frustration. It teaches them to nevertheless, persist.
Margot dreams of space (the final frontier, for my die-hard Trekkers out there). She wants to talk about space with anyone who will listen. And nobody, listens. Her mother wants her to read books about princesses. Her friends and teachers ignore her. She even suffers from an apparent psychotic break (my characterization) and starts to talk in “Neil Armstrong” speak. And nobody even notices.
It is only after Margot scrawls her feelings on the wall of her room that her mother gets a clue. Finally, her mother begins to parent; and helps Margot find space to be herself.
For kids, the book is an excellent teaching tool in letting them know how important it is to communicate their feelings and thoughts. For parents, well, it reminds them that the word parent is also a verb. Adults reading the book will find that Fitzpatrick’s “adult-speak” may sometimes cut too close to home; and that’s okay. As long as there is self-awareness, there is growth.
Medina’s illustrations provide, especially in her carefully constructed facial expressions, all the feels: despair, anger, dismissiveness, loneliness, and finally contentment.
Will Margot get to space? We don’t know. But it sure is nice to see a girl, especially a brown one, persist in her quest to get there.
This is a picture book that works on two levels. For kids we have a message about finding balance in our lives. For parents we have a message about helping your kids be heard, finding pathways for kids who may not be neurotypical.
I read this book to my daughter. The pictures are cute. There's a sweet message about having a voice in this book.
My daughter is obsessed with space. She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. And her best friend is named Margot. And she eats dahl and rice! I loved everything about this book, and can’t wait to share it with my students. I think it’d be a great title to share to encourage their own exploration, sharing our feelings, or even learning about Buzz and Neil! The illustrations are lovely and filled with cute details, and diverse characters. #MargotandtheMoonLanding #NetGalley
Such a cute story! Margot loves space, and finds it's all she wants to talk about. She quickly realizes it may be all she feels comfortable to talk about - and Mom is there to save the day.
Thank you Annick Press and NetGalley for a free ARC in return for my honest review. Wow, and now in a good way! This book, for me, fell off the rails by about page 7 and it doesn't get better the longer you go. Margot loves space and is obsessed with the first Moon landing. All she does is live, eat and breath Apollo 11 info and voice transmissions. Nobody pays much attention to her, from her mom to her teachers or other kids in school. This goes on and on for 30 more pages until she writes on the wall and her mother reads and and finds ways to help Margot overcome her love of space. An obsessed child who answers math questions with quotes from Neil Armstrong, bored or distracted adults and just a cluster of nothing. Not sure what the point of the story is other than it is OK to be obsessed so long as you don't write on the walls! Terribly disappointed with this book, it could have and should have been so much more.
While there is nothing inheritly wrong with being interested in something, there is something wrong if all you <em>ever</em> want to talk about is Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon.
Margot has no friends, because she <em>only</em> wants to talk about the landing on the moon, and outer space, and such, and that can get boring fast.
<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/margo-and-the-moon-landing.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5630" />
And the book doesn't solve the problem. She is still going to be shunned at school, the only difference is that her mother lets her be more organized in her obsession.
It is a puzzling book, but the pictures are nice.
THanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Margot loves space. Astronauts, the stars, and especially the moon landing. So she can’t understand why all of her attempts to communicate her passion fall on disinterested ears. Her mom is patient but distracted; her classmates would rather play kickball; and her teacher just wants her to focus and pay attention in class. Even so, Margot wishes she never had to talk about anything but space ever again.
When she wakes up one morning and discovers she can only recite Neil Armstrong’s famous speech from the moon landing, Margot realizes she has an even bigger problem. How can Margot get everyone to pay attention and—more importantly—to hear what she’s really trying to say?
Kids can get incredibly focused on a single subject, and sometimes adults just tune out sometimes. This book was a gentle reminder to adults that they need to spend time listening, not just "ok, that's nice." The creative solution was a welcome suggestion!
This is the story of Margot, a kid obsessed with space.
It has an element of magical realism when she becomes afflicted with a condition where she can't speak anything except the words used on the Apollo 11 space mission. I did like the actual quotes! There's the super-famous one, but there are lesser-known quotes as well (which shows us the extent of Margot's obsession).
However, I'm not sure I sympathized with Margot, especially during the wall-writing incident. I understand her frustration, but it came about because of her obsession. I'm not exactly sure what the take-away is for this book. It almost seems to be more for the parent and what to do if you have a childlike Margot. The solution is brought about by the parent.
I wish I liked this book more. I DID like to an extent, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped.
I loved the empathetic manner in which the author illustrated Margot's descent into frustration at being ignored by her peers and the adults in her life because of her niche interests. When her frustration finally reaches a pinnacle, the mother is seen regrouping and meeting Margot where she is; I thought this was a sweet reminder to parents/caregivers to honor your kid's interests and enjoy them together.
Margot can't help but to talk about outer space all the time, to the point where it alienates her from friends and family. But really, all she wants to be is heard. One morning, she wakes up and all she can say is Neil Armstrong's famous speech--one of the most important speeches relating to what lies beyond our world. And when nobody understands what she's trying to say, she lashes out. Why can't anybody understand her?
With beautiful cartoon-esque pencil drawings, Margot and the Moon Landing suggests that sometimes all anyone needs is to be listened to. For someone to say "I hear you", even if they aren't all that interested in moon landings. Luckily, Margot does have a happy ending in which her feelings and her facts are heard, and she's able to express her ideas in a much better format than just blurting them out. This is a great book that shows that collaboration can happen when there's an optimal work space, and understanding begins with communication. There's no need to stop loving one's interests, only a need to find someone who will listen, and listen intently. Great for the STEM-lover, and great for grades K-2.
A good story with a great focus on writing out your problems. It is a book I wish I could put on my library order list, but it was missing something that would really make it stand out enough for me to do so.
This is a cute story about a girl who loves space but feels like no one cares. She is always wanting to tell people about all the space facts she knows, but they tell her it's not the time or they ignore her.
I thought this story was cute, but I wanted more out of it. It felt like everything was resolved way too fast. I thought the idea was a good one but that it could have been explored more. I know this is a children's picture book, but there was just not enough to it to be really enjoyable.
I thought this would be a book about astronomy and exploration. Instead it's a book about being heard. I kept waiting for the moon landing and getting so frustrated when nobody was listening to Margot. I could totally relate and I think a lot of the kids will to. This is definitely one I want.