The Young Traveller in Space / Going into Space (1954)

Two children's books from Arthur C. Clarke!

The Young Traveller in Space was a British children's book. That same year he used some of the content from that book to publish another space book for children called Going into Space. When Going into Space made its way to the United States it also (somehow) became a newsstand publication from Trend Books called Going into Space. However it was marketed as a general space book rather than a juvenile one. Does that mean that British youth have the same mental capacity as American adults?




Clarke, Arthur C. Illustrated by Frodsham, G.A., Smith, R.A. and others. Going into Space. New York: Harper and Brothers. (117 p.) 22 cm.

Text and illustrations concern the history of rockets, conditions in space, space station, Moon landings and planetary exploration. No space art rather a center section of photographs. Also a UK edition "The Young Traveler in Space" (1954) with similar but not identical text and different illustrations.

Clarke, Arthur C. Illustrated by Frodsham, G.A., Smith, R.A. and others. Going into Space. Los Angeles: Trend Books. (128 p.) 24 cm. Softcover.

Softcover reprint (see description above). Sub-titled: “An expert’s exciting blueprint for man’s interplanetary future”. "Trend Book" (#150).

Clarke, Arthur C . Illustrated by Blandford, Edmund Louis, Frodsham, G.A. and Smith, R.A. The Young Traveler in Space . London : Phoenix House Ltd. (72 p.) 28 cm.

Text and illustrations concern the history of rockets, conditions in space, space station, Moon landings and planetary exploration. Text concludes with predictions about when the first Moon landing will be and how children can prepare themselves for the future. Also an American edition, called "Going Into Space" (1954) with similar but not identical text and different illustrations.

Either way these books had some great illustrations

Moonshot 1970 (1967)

Moonshot 1970 was published in 1967. At the time the optimistic title made a lot of sense. It seemed like we were on a roll and this booklet explained how we would get there. But this pamphlet was popular enough to take several journeys of its own while we were working our way to the moon.

Lomask, Martha . Illustrated by Mellor, Gordon. Moonshot 1970. Columbus, OH: For Children, Inc. (33 p.) 18 cm. "Grow-ahead"

Just for fun, they issued a 1968 version with a 3-d pop-up in the back which they called "Our Man on the Moon":

Also available in 1968 as a free premium on the giant size of Thrill dish soap.

In 1969 you could read this pamphlet as a give-away from Tang as "The Big Trip to the Moon" complete with Tang advertisement on the back or...

Finally while you were flying on TWA in 1969 you could read "Moonshot 1970" all over again.

The Moon (1963)

Another book about the Moon. But what is special about this one is it's creative link to a much older space art book. In 1874, James Nasmyth and James Carpenter published, The Moon. A large and lavishly illustrated volume, its numerous plates were reproduction of photographs of plaster models of portions of the lunar surface, seen both telescopically from Earth and as they would appear to an observer on the Moon.

Brenna, Virgilio. Illustrated by Brenna, Virgilio. The Moon. New York: Golden Press. (104 p.) 29 cm.

In this unique book many of the pictures in it are also composites of paintings and photographs of a plaster model of the moon's surface. The text covers what is known about the Moon, the theories of formation, geography and geological processes. It has no illustrations of rockets or space flight but the picture/paintings of the Moon's surface are wonderful to see.

Lion Annual (1957)

Lion Weekly was a weekly newspaper for boys, with stories, comic strips, and useful facts. Some of the best of each year were collected in annuals. I look for these annuals because although the majority of material is fictional they often had non-fiction articles and illustrations about the future of space flight.

"When We Reach the Moon" is one of those fantastic treasures hidden away.

Boy's Own Paper (Oct 1966)

Sorry for the lack of posts, life has gotten busy for a while. So here is a delta winged beauty for you.

Boy's Own Paper (BOP) was one of a couple of British magazines for kids that had a mixture of fact and fiction.

I still remember when we thought this was the shape of the future for rocket ships as well as the memorable break-up of one as depicted in the opening credit to the Six Million Dollar Man.

Donald Duck and Wernher von Braun on the Moon (1958?)

This post is dedicated to one of my favorite blogs Ephemera (http://ephemera.typepad.com/). Ephemera does a great job of showing that every object or scrap of paper can have a story if you look a little.





So the object in question is a pair of gloves (child sized). While not a licensed Disney product they are well made and have images of Donald Duck exploring the Moon on one side of the cuff and a ship flying over the moon on the other side. I bought them from a seller in Mexico so suspect they were some sort of bootleg product.







If you look closely at Donald Duck's head it is an appliqué on top of the space suit. This begs the question whether it was originally a man's head in the space suit.








The second question to ask is about this space ship. I am very familiar with this one. It is RM-1, designed by Wernher von Braun for the Walt Disney television film called "Man And The Moon" broadcast December 28, 1955. RM-1 was meant to illustrate what a factual around the moon space ship might look like. In the film it was portrayed by this model.





So these gloves have to date from after 1955. As far as I know there were very few products derived from the movie but the quality of printing on the gloves is very nice and it looks like these gloves were not a 0ne-of-a-kind trial.



So is the image of Donald Duck and a Wernher von Braun designed rocket a unique collision of fact and fantasy? Donald Duck on the Moon is fantasy but was this meant to inspire children to "dream of space"? More questions than answers but the gloves are neat.



Here is the children's book with these images Tomorrow the Moon (1959):

Out into Space (1965)

Pretty pictures for today. Who knew lurking inside one of those dull looking gray classroom books there were be these gorgeous paintings.

Parker, Bertha Morris. Illustrated by Dugan, William. Out Into Space. New York: Harper and Row. (36 p.) 22 cm. Cloth, DJ.

Describes the theory behind rockets, basic facts about space flight, a summary up to that point of space travel, and a quick look at the planned trips to the Moon and space stations.

Junior Scholastic (1961)

Weekly Reader and Junior Scholastic were two mainstays in my elementary school days. These were weekly "newspapers" printed for school use. They would be used to teach current events or to add to a science or social studies unit. For those of us in school they felt like a break in the school day. They had a couple of news stories, some jokes, even a cartoon. While most people did not keep them, I occasionally find a few on Ebay about space flight.

Fall is in the air where I live and school and space seem to go together like hot chocolate and ghost stories.