Earth and Sky (1961)

 

An astronomy book from 1961 in Ukrainian. The highlights of this book are its color illustrations of the planets, along with a few spaceflight illustrations.

Earth and Sky. (22 cm) 192 p. 1961.

The black and white drawings in this book are very beautiful. 

These illustrations of the Moon as also beautifully detailed.

I missed seeing umbrellas as part of most mission plans, but they look like fun for protection and balance.

A mission to Mars

These last 3 color illustrations I like very much also for their evocative feeling. The solar flare is almost impressionistic in its violence.

Astronautics (1968)

 

Astronautics is one of a series of school textbooks from the "Follett Beginning Science" series. The art is simple and beautiful. It also depicts a lunar landing using a very different vehicle. I hope 2021 is treating you well.

May, Julian. Illustrated by Barss, Bill. Astronautics. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. (28 p.) 1968.

Representation matters! This should not have been such a rare illustration.

Who to Fly? (1964)

 

Who to Fly? is a space-race alphabet book for children. I have not taken the time to translate but it is in order if you want to review your alphabet. Personally I like trying to puzzle out what word it is trying to teach.

Who to Fly? By Illya Turichin. Artist: T. Obolenskaya and B. Starodubtsev. Leningrad : Children's Literature. (58 p.) Softcover