“The Spacesuit,” a children’s picture book written by Alison Donald and illustrated by Ariel Landy, is a nonfiction history book about the seamstresses who made the spacesuit for US astronauts in the Apollo missions headed for the moon.

Eleanor “Ellie” Foraker, a seamstress for ILC Dover, who sewed women’s bras and baby’s cloth diapers, became an instrumental part of the Apollo missions, when she was implored by engineers in her company to be a part of the development for a proposal for a new spacesuit for NASA. Her team of engineers and seamstresses designed and sewed a new spacesuit that was heat resistant, comfortable, and maneuverable for astronauts to make it to the moon, and then move freely on the moon to collect rock samples and perform other experiments.

The book is an interesting historical account of the winning team to design and produce the spacesuit. It shows how important every job can be, even in fields seemingly unrelated to the one you currently work in. For kids, it is inspiring to see how the spacesuit was developed and that there was a skilled person, who worked hard to meet the challenge they faced.

My kids all enjoyed hearing the story and were engaged the entire time. This is a great book for kids aged four years and up, especially for those children interested in science and space.

– Jason