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  • The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean

The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean

Author
Dean Robbins
Illustrator
Sean Rubin
Publication Date
May 28, 2019
Genre / Grade Band
Non-fiction /  2nd − 3rd
Language
English
The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean
Only 4 copies currently available
Description

Journey to the moon on the Apollo 12 mission with Alan Bean, the fourth astronaut to walk on the lunar surface and the only artist to paint its beauty firsthand!

As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes.

When he returned to Earth, he began to paint what he saw. Alan's paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon. Journalist and storyteller Dean Robbins's tale of this extraordinary astronaut is masterful, and artist Sean Rubin's illustrations are whimsical and unexpected.

With back matter that includes photos of the NASA mission, images of Alan's paintings, and a timeline of lunar space travel, this is one adventure readers won't want to miss!

Publication date
May 28, 2019
Genre
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781338259537
Lexile Measure
590
Publisher
Orchard Books
BISAC categories
JNF007010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Art
JNF006050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Art | Painting
JNF007090 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
JNF051040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Astronomy
Library of Congress categories
Moon
United States
Astronauts
Project Apollo (U.S.)
Space flight to the moon
Bean, Alan

Publishers Weekly

Robbins introduces Alan Bean, the Apollo 12 astronaut who painted his experience of walking on the moon. Working in an approachable, cartoony art style, Rubin depicts Bean as a boy dreaming of learning to fly, then as a navy pilot and budding painter: "His flowers didn't look exactly real, but he didn't want them to. They were brighter and bolder than real ones." Bean's powerful experience of walking on the moon would inspire many of the expressionistic paintings he later created: "how stunning outer space looked through his eyes." Robbins provides an intriguing look into how some math- and science-based experiences can best be communicated with art. Detailed back matter features photos, images of Bean's painting, and a timeline of the Space Race. Ages 4-8. (May)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Dean Robbins
Dean Robbins is the author of ¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! The Dance That Crossed Color Lines, illustrated by Eric Velasquez. He is also the author of Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing, illustrated by Lucy Knisley; Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women's Right to Vote, illustrated by Nancy Zhang; and Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko, as well as a jazz trumpet player, a jazz critic, and a jazz festival organizer. Dean Robbins lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Susanna Chapman is an illustrator, muralist, and designer. Her books include Ada and the Galaxies by Alan Lightman and Olga Pastuchiv and Elizabeth Warren's Big, Bold Plans by Laurie Ann Thompson. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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