The Boy Who Discovered the Earth (1955)

 

Continuing with a bit of a flying saucer theme today is The Boy Who Discovered The Earth. It is a pleasant science fiction novel for kids about an alien boy who is left behind on Earth. He makes friends with the locals and learns about dogs, baseball, and the life of children on another planet. 

The only trick is they don't look like humans at the beginning but disguise themselves as human. The "boy" keeps up this masquerade for the entire novel. Talk about Invasion of the Body Snatchers! What child finished this one without wondering which of his friends or teachers was actually an alien?

The illustrations are better than average and use the then-current current fad for children with spacesuits, space helmets, and ray guns.

Felson, Henry Gregor. The Boy Who Discovered the Earth. NY: Scribner. (140 p) 1955.

A Visit to the New York World's Fair with Peter and Wendy (1964)

 

An apology to my long time followers. I had stopped posting months ago when I got too busy. I am also having to work much harder to find /create new posts. So let me try every 2 weeks for a while and see how I do.

A Visit to the New York World's Fair was the official World's Fair storybook. A great example of obscure but not particularly valuable. It shows 2 children touring the fair and seeing what they saw. I chose it because of a little bit of space content and as a fan of the film "Men in Black." So look for the "flying saucers" sculpture as featured in the film.

Mary Pillsbury. A Visit to the New York World's Fair with Peter and Wendy. NY : Spertus. (26 p.) 1964.

Bozo and His Rocket Ship -Capitol Record-Reader (1947)

 

Here an old piece of "rocket" ephemera. Back when there were these big black round things called "records," there were children's record-readers. My mom had some of these from here childhood so I actually read some of them. You would put a stack of records on (this one had 4 sides) and then you would turn the pages as the songs and voices on the record told you to. You could have a story read to you! 

So this is not a space related item in any way, but rather an example how rockets were the new thing for children in the late 40s and early 50s. Bozo the Clown (Google him) got into the whole thing with his rocket ship ride around the world. I could not resist sharing this very campy piece of ephemera with you all.

Bozo and His Rocket Ship.  Text by Walter Hannan. Illustrated by Cecil Beard and Norman McCabe. Capitol Records DBX 118. 36 p. 2 lps. 1947.

The Jolly Jump-ups Journey Through Space (1952)

 

Sorry for the delays in posting, I have been on a short vacation. So today is one of my favorite (and obscure) fictional pop-up books about space. A really beautifully illustrated 1952 book with some amazing text to accompany it, The Jolly Jump-ups Journey Through Space!

Clyne, Geraldine. The Jolly Jump-ups Journey Through Space. Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Bros. (12 p.) 1952.