This selection traces the development of Margaret Hamilton from an intellectually curious and multitalented schoolgirl to a computer coding pioneer and the heroine of the Apollo 11 mission. Includes Author’s Note, Bibliography, Additional Reading, Photos.

Margaret and the Moon is one of those wonderful books that presents as a picture book for young children but which has plenty to teach older readers. It's a succinct biography of the pioneering software engineer whose code enabled the success of the lunar landings. Along the way, it even manages to deliver terse summaries of different branches of mathematics. ("She liked moving around x's and y's in algebra. She liked measuring circles and triangles in geometry. She liked studying curves in calculus.") My only quibble is that in the climax of the story, so much credit is given to Hamilton that it suggests her software alone saved the day, without mention of Buzz Aldrin's steady hand on the controls. But nearly every book about Apollo 11 makes the reverse omission, and I'm happy to see Hamilton get her day. ( )

Margaret Hamilton had big questions, and loved working out the answers. It was her math - and her code - that enabled Apollo 11's moon landing (and safe return).

Lucy Knisley's illustrations, which pair cartoon figures with real photographs and documents, make the story friendly for young readers.

See also: Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly w/ Winifred Conkling ( )

Margaret loved working hard in school, but she especially loved numbers. She loved math so much she knew how many miles to and from the moon, how many miles around earth, how fast the earth moved. She began working harder to solve math problems and she even tried solving some of the hardest. She then discovered computers and began making codes for the computer, before long she convinced NASAs leaders to let her try to get people to the moon, she was successful. Margaret was one of the first women to work and be successful at NASA. I loved this book because it shows that women are capable of just as much as men. It also shows that if you study hard and practice what you love, you can do anything you set your heart too. ( )

This biography follows the story of Margaret Hamilton's life. The story starts by laying the foundation of Margaret's path which is a love for math, science, and a heart for big wonderings. This is a great book for empowering women because Margaret wanted to work hard to break barriers. She eventually became a software engineer and started working with NASA. Margaret worked with code and wrote code that supported the Apollo 11's landing on the moon. I would use this book in a unit about the moon. ( )