 listening library presents ordinary people change the world I am Neil Armstrong by Brad Meltzer illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos read for you by Mark Thompson and an ensemble cast I am Neil Armstrong I grew up on a farm with no electricity when I was eight years old my goal was to climb this silver maple tree the biggest one in my backyard it seemed impossible the tree was so big and I was so small how would I do it I'd need to be brave I wasn't a brave kid though back in Ohio when I was three years old I got scared when we went to see Santa Claus say cheese I'd also need to be smart as a kid I loved to read in first grade I read more than 100 books really yep more than 100 in one year finally I'd need to be patient during monopoly games when my brother would get upset and kick the table I always stayed calm yet to climb that huge tree the only way to get to the top was this I had to take that first step up we go climbing the tree was like a puzzle I needed to pick the right branches in the right order I had to engineer or figure out a solution I had to use my brain even more than my body plus I loved the feeling of being so high up but then I grabbed a dead branch and crack I fell 15 feet I landed flat on my back should I get mama yeah luckily I wasn't hurt on that day I did learn not to grab dead branches but the most important thing I did was get back up again success never comes easily it takes hard work and when it came to hard work I was really good at that at 10 years old I mowed grass at a cemetery for 10 cents an hour then I worked at a bakery I was so small I could fit into the mixing vats to clean sample complete ready to continue