Title: Reaching for the Moon – Lessons from the Chandrayaan Missions
Author: Meneka Raman
Illustrator: Adrija Ghosh
Publication: Puffin India (an imprint of Penguin Random House India)
No of pages: 44 (not a chapter book)
Recommended Age Group: 8 years+ (6 years onwards for curious kids and advanced readers)
A book that inspires to be resilient as resilience breeds success.
Reaching For the Moon by Menaka Raman-who needs no introduction, is such an inspiring story; it filled my 8 year with joy and pride. The story follows Valarmathi, a twelve-year-old girl living in Theenkulam, Tamil Nadu. When her district announces a science fair to celebrate India’s success with the Chandrayaan 3 mission, she decides to participate in the fair.
After the winning reward was announced, all she visualised was winning the science fair as the winner gets a chance to witness Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) next launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Valar decides to take on a bold project: to try and create artificial snow in her hometown to provide relief from the heat. She dreams of impressing the judges with her idea; the questions she would ask the ISRO scientists when she’d meet them.
With Valar’s best friend Siva commenting it to be the most ridiculous he’s ever heard; she sets out with enthusiasm and big dreams. Through this journey, she learns valuable lessons: about perseverance, designing smart experiments, and the value of collaboration and curiosity. The inclusion of the Chandrayaan missions gives context and national pride, showing how India progressed in space exploration.
I am sure this book will leave your child with the thought and belief that big dreams, grounded in resilience, are worth pursuing — and that setbacks don’t define the end of the story; they often shape the best parts of it. What motivated my daughter the most were the lines:
“Almost every scientific endeavour has its share of naysayers. What matters most is tuning out the noise and getting on with the work.”
So, one must not get distracted by the what people say but should focus on the goal and work on the ways to achieve it. That’s exactly what Valar did.
This story is a must read for all those who believe that dreams are important. Dreams give wings to your life. At last, did Valarmathi achieve her goal? To know more grab a copy now.
Be sure to also read the review of Menaka Raman’s previous book in this series here.
You can find all other books by this award winning author here.
If you’d like to be a part of Valar’s dream, you might want to order this book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),
CLICK & BUY NOW!Disclaimer: Shraddha and her daughters are a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received these books as review copies from the publisher via kbc.
