May 28, 2012
McReynolds, in her children’s book debut, offers a compact and rhythmic look at the first lunar landing 43 years out: “Launchpad countdown./ Smoke and flame./ Rumbling. Blasting./ Seizing fame.” The same four-line rhyme scheme continues throughout, from liftoff and moonwalk to splashdown and celebratory parade. The brisk recounting sometimes requires prior knowledge (or at least a parental conversation or two) to fully appreciate its pared-down nature; e.g., most younger readers won’t know that the landing was made on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility, which the author alludes to with the line, “Desolation./ Silent. Dark./ Tranquil sea./ Barren. Stark.” (McReynolds provides additional
details about the moon landing in an author’s note, and a bibliography suggests print and online resources for children.) Rendered in oil, O’Rourke’s (One Big Rain) flat, clean-lined cartoons have a speckled, airbrushed quality and are reminiscent of some of the Golden Book illustrations of the Apollo 11 mission’s era. A spread of a half-Earth hanging in black space as a single astronaut on the moon gazes toward it is awe-inspiring. The book’s small trim size echoes the condensed, yet evocative account found within. Ages 5–8.