February 19, 2004

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Max Goes to the Moon

LPOD-2004-02-19.jpeg

Image Credit: Jeffrey Bennett

Max Goes to the Moon

Do you remember the kids books you read - or were read to you - when your age was just a single digit? Many of those books had a lesson as well as a tale: Little Toot (a small tugboat who overcame fear to succeed) encouraged bravery and adventure, The Little Engine That Could (the small engine who kept trying until he pulled a train over a mountain) extolled positive thinking, and Clifford, The Big Red Dog (a really big red dog) said it was OK to be different. People never forget kids books or the ideas they plant. That's why it is so wonderful to see Max Goes to the Moon, a new picture book for youngsters, written by Jeffrey Bennett, an astrophysicist and former NASA scientist. Max and Tori, Max's young human pet, accompany five astronauts who establish a Moon colony. The life-like illustrations and the text convey a sense of everydayness, as if being on the Moon were normal. Every page has unobtrusive science based on real characteristics of the Moon and kid-familiar examples - how the lack of air and gravity effect the flight of a Frisbee. Each page also carries a "Big Kid Box" with relevant information for parents. Since my generation failed in returning humans to the Moon, perhaps Max can instill a lunar goal in kids still on tricycles.

Related Links:
Big Kid Science

Yesterday's LPOD: Sea of Dryness

Tomorrow's LPOD: Last Quarter


Author & Editor:
Charles A. Wood

 


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