The Boy's Book of Jets (1954)

This is primarily a book about aviation. Although the title seems not to promise much space flight there are some great pictures hidden inside.

The Boy's Book of Jets. London : Thames Publishing Co. (94 p.) 27 cm. 1954.

For example it has this illustration of building a "Bonestellian" moon ship. A very nice reinterpretation of a Bonestell painting.

This cut-away painting of the rocket is also worth hunting down.

And this color rocket painting (touring the solar system) on the inner dust pages.

Since this blog is really about children and space flight I love any illustration of children in space looking back on our home planet.
 

Although some of you probably like this one too with it's cut-away of a generic guided-missile.

In some way this one is the best in the book with its combination of the 1950s car and the futuristic space car that takes you to your rocket. See you in December!

Introducing Children to Space: The Lincoln Plan (1966)

 I have happy memories of learning about space in school. A number of my friend's dads worked at JPL (The Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Pasadena. We happily absorbed visions of the exciting space age.  Finding this book is like finding a photo album of my classroom in those "golden" years.

Introducing children to space: the Lincoln plan.  United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.; Nebraska. University Teachers College. (1966) 159 p. illus., map. 27 cm. NASA-EP-36

The Lincoln plan was Lincoln, Nebraska's curriculum plan for how to bring spaceflight ideas into the elementary school classroom  It was eventually published as a NASA educational publication. Like many early NASA publications it is online here: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19840069191

I remember having a current events board like this in my classroom.  I also remember well classroom lined with space posters to help us think about what the next frontier would be.

It is really fun to see that my memories of being immersed in space stuff are not just an exageration. We really did sit around in class and watch launches and other events on television. We thought we were witnessing history.

And we really did dream of the future. We thought by 1999 we would be out in space ourselves.  We were sure that the exploration of the Moon was just the beginning for us.

Adventures in Space (1955)

This is another of those awesome books that bowls you over when you see it. If I had seen this as a child I would have carried it around until the binding was shot.

Kepps, Gerald. Illustrated by Branton and Teece, I. Adventures in Space. London : Ward, Lock and Co Ltd. (44 p.) 26 cm. (1955)

This amazing early space book covers the solar system, how rockets work, construction of rockets and space stations, and journeys to the Moon, and the planets. Wonderful paintings of rockets, space stations, a Moon base, exploration of the outer planets. Text is very simple with many full page illustrations.

It is a children's annual because it also has six two page comic strips: 3 on the exploration of space, the Moon, and rockets, and 3 fictional stories about a space explorer, "Pluton, the Space Boy".

I love this version of the Moonbase. It actually reminds me of shopping malls I've seen.

Sorry this strip is too small to read. I love the Annual archetype of children has friends with a rocket, children see the Earth from space, children experience weightlessness, children land on the Moon, and children learn about space suits and walk on the Moon. I have seen variations of this strip several times.

A beautiful (and proper) circular space station.

A great 3 stage rocket. I love that so many illustrations are double-page.

Conquest of the Moon (1969)

A quick one today:

Sutton, Felix and Maurer, Alvin. Illustrated by Mora, Raul Mina and NASA. Conquest of the Moon. New York: Wonder Books. (59 p.) 29 cm. (1969)

Arranged in a question and answer format and reusing material from the "How and Why Wonder Books" series. It answers questions about what is known about the Moon and the history of the efforts to explore the Moon both manned and unmanned.

Space Diorama- Jack & Jill Magazine (June 1959)

Happy Halloween!!! Here is your treat for today (Be sure to click on the image): your own "Space Diorama."

Not quite a punch-out but rather a cut-out set of space pictures. One of the magazines for kids that was popular when I was little was Jack & Jill. It was always moderately interesting and it is always fun to get stuff in the mail. This was a centerfold that you could cut out. Usually they would have a game but it was a "Space Diorama" this time.

As you can see it was not presented as science fiction but rather something that just hasn't happened yet.

The influence of Chesley Bonestell's (and other) space art is undeniable in this illustration. This is what it would look like to stand on the Moon.

I also like the Rolf Klep style space suits. The three illustrators of the Collier's magazine space series were Rolf Klep, Fred Freeman, and Chesley Bonestell. Both Freeman and Bonestell were known for their magazine illustration but Klep was much less known. Nevertheless his spacesuit illustration set a standard for how suits should look.

As compared to the work of this unknown Diorama artist:

The spaceship's basic form was established in the early 1950s so this Diorama perpetuates the "classic" form.

Thanks for looking at this odd bit of ephemera. It still amazes me that almost exactly 10 years after this illustration was published of the "long time in the future" there were men on the Moon.

Tomorrowland : Pictures to Color (1955)

Still fascinated with the line between fiction and non-fiction. So here is a case of imaginary animals playing in a real place. How does putting animals in a spacesuit convince children that space is a "fun" place?

Why with Mickey Mouse of course. It looks like the art was done for this coloring book before the final construction of the Rocket to the Moon ride.

Here is how the rocket was shown in other illustrations:



So this is space art but of a very basic variety. But Tomorrowland meant spaceflight to a lot of people so Mickey Mouse is Disney:

The next few show Chip and Dale actually going to the ride pavilion and taking the ride




When you entered the ride you saw an auditorium with seats where you watch the central screen

We land on the Moon (1963) /Men on the Moon (1964)

This one was first published in the United States and then reprinted in England a year later. The sub-titles give it away. We Land on the Moon :Based on NASA'a Project Apollo (1963) and Men on the Moon: Based on America's Project Apollo (1964).

Raymond, John. Illustrations furnished by the NASA. We Land on the Moon: Based on NASA's Project Apollo. Long Island, NY: Child Guild Publications Inc. (94 p.) 29 cm.

Raymond, John. Men on the Moon : Based on America's Project Apollo. London : Collins. (96 p.) 29 cm.

the text is a mixture of NASA's planned effort to explore the Moon and a fictional narrative of what the first mission might be like. It is illustrated with some very strange aerospace contractor's illustrations along with the standard early Apollo illustrations. Presented as a text intended for school use (with a space term glossary) it really has to be seen.

You go from this early contactor's model to.....

...this illustration from a pulp science fiction story. And the pictures are all mixed together.

Are they orbiting Mars?

Of course you need your Moon Buggy!
This next one looks like a contractor's illustration except I think they are orbiting Mars.
And this one takes us back to the Moon. Wait a minute, wasn't this book supposed to be about the Apollo mission to the Moon?

OK, here is a contractor's painting of our favorite Moon vehicle, the un-manned "shopping cart." This book is not hard to find and is rewarding for the number of space art illustrations.