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

by Dean Robbins, Sean Rubin (Illustrator)

Overview

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!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338259537
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/28/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	634,322
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dean Robbins is a journalist and the author of the children’s picture books Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing, and Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women's Right to Vote. His award-winning books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and have been praised in the New York Times and USA Today. Dean grew up idolizing Apollo astronauts and loved working with Alan Bean on The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon. Learn more at deanrobbins.net.
Sean Rubin was born in Brooklyn, New York. An only child, he entertained himself by collecting interesting things, learning about unusual subjects, and by drawing characters from books. Sean graduated from Princeton University, where he met his wife, Lucy. They have two sons and live in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sean's masterful debut, Bolivar, received three starred reviews and was nominated for a 2018 Eisner Award.

Editorial Reviews

…Sean Rubin's jewel-colored, crosshatched artwork…smooths out narrative shifts with skillfully extended motifs, including aircraft that transform from model airplanes to Air Force fighters to the Apollo 12 rocket as the pages turn. And as in Bean's paintings, a brilliant palette animates the scenes of space with vibrant, palpable energy. More than an account of a singular figure, Robbins's notable biography is a beautiful reminder that science and art are a vital combination and, together, can create new understanding.

The New York Times Book Review - Gillian Engberg

04/08/2019

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)

Publishers Weekly

* "As the story of 'the only artist ever to see the Moon up close,' this is a standout among titles that blend art and science, and it reflects the best aims of STEAM." — Booklist, starred review* "Along with scenes from Bean's youth and short but electrifying time on the moon, [Rubin] incorporates versions of some of Bean's space paintings into glimpses of the artist's studio and a gallery exhibition (where some younger viewers are people of color)... Inspiring fare for readers who, as the author puts it, dream of becoming 'brave astronauts,' 'great artists,' or both." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Robbins provides an intriguing look into how some math- and science-based experiences can best be communicated with art." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 2019-01-15

A portrait of Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon and the first to express what that felt like in paint.

Basing his account at least in part on personal interviews with Bean, who tellingly described himself as "an artist who was once an astronaut," Robbins (who also wrote about our nearest neighbor in Margaret and the Moon, illustrated by Lucy Knisley, 2017) spins a glowing tribute that focuses more on his white subject's artistic aspirations than his outstanding Navy and NASA careers. Having found after his Apollo mission and subsequent experiences in space that "words weren't enough" and photographs likewise failed to capture the "wonder of walking on a new world," Bean turned to a medium that allowed him to experiment with light, color, and even materials—some of his work includes actual moon dust, spacesuit boot prints, and marks created by astronautical tools. Rubin's cover and internal views of an easel actually set up on the lunar surface are fanciful, but along with scenes from Bean's youth and short but electrifying time on the moon, he incorporates versions of some of Bean's space paintings into glimpses of the artist's studio and a gallery exhibition (where some younger viewers are people of color). Further examples are paired in the backmatter to the actual photos that inspired them.

Inspiring fare for readers who, as the author puts it, dream of becoming "brave astronauts," "great artists," or both. (timeline, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews