This is the Moon (1946)

Happy 400th post to me!

Yes this is the 400th post to this blog. 

I truly was not sure I had this many books (and ideas) to share.

So for my post today I share a book from 1946. Just post-WW 2 seems to me to be the expansion of non-fiction for children about space. I have found very few of these early books but happened across one I had not seen before. These early books are a sort of forced blend of a chapter like "Your trip to the moon" mixed with a bunch of more generic material on the history of the moon in mythology and astronomy.  I find this book particular "perfect" for its illustration of space suits that look like deep sea diving suits. It is this speculation in non-fiction that fascinates me in these books. 

As the jacket copy says "American boys and girls--and indeed boys and girls everywhere--may during their lifetime witness the building and launching of a space ship that would set off for the moon."

Cothren, Marion B. Illustrated by Kurt Wiese. This is the Moon. New York: Coward-McCann. (87 p.) 25 cm. Cloth, DJ. 1946.

"To shoot higher and higher way above the blue sky into a sea of empty space; to drop down on another world; to delve into its long-locked mysteries; then to come back with the story of your thrilling adventures--what a wonderful dream!"

Finally I need to include the last page of the book that encourages children to seek out planetariums as one of the few places they can learn more about this dream.  

A final happy surprise when I got this book was a bookmark made by some child (maybe as a class project). It is an early ticket to an amazing dream.