THE MOON EXPLORER'S GUIDE BOOK

 The explosion of news about potential MOON landings in the coming years will spark loads of works on the topic, and they'll undoubtedly range in target age from tots to adults. The attention is welcome for a topic as essential to all of our lives as Earth's MOON. 

But interest in that glowing orb is as ancient as life on this planet, from animals howling to adjusting migration and plant growth. Once humans arrived on scene, the MOON was a subject for countless storytelling and cultural developments. In other words, the MOON is a magnetic, irresistible topic for consideration.

SOURCEBOOKS eXplore. 2026

As such, a new picture book feels essential for homes, libraries, schools, and for anyone with an ounce of curiosity. THE MOON EXPLORER'S GUiDE BOOK, with words by Ben Lerwill and pictures by Patrick Corrigan, has much to offer for casual gazers to dedicated investigators. Launched with a "visitor's pass" to board a trip to the moon, a kid and their dog, safely encased in space suits, learn countless fun facts. Some are translated into kid-imaginable math:

The moon is more than 75 million stacked giraffes from the surface of the Earth!

Essentials, like how long has it been there and where it came from, are addressed in text and images. The MOON's puzzling changes in appearances, otherwise known as the phases of the moon, are considered effectively and clearly, while the names of seas (actually craters) are explained in dramatic illustration and powerful text. 

Although the moon landings were within my lifetime and are both undeniable and unforgettable, they appear as jaw-dropping history to young readers. Amusing details assure this is not AI or other contrived storytelling. For example, can you guess the number of bags of astronaut poop left behind? The correct response is provided in these pages. 

Young readers are encouraged to imagine themselves working on the science and engineering that will be involved in future trips to the MOON. Considering the potential span of young audiences for this book, they might well reach a point in the future in which they could travel there even if not in official capacities. From front to back, each spread offers inspiration and new discoveries, which are likely to lead to even more questions and further reading.

If you are reading this post as it goes live, I've timed it to release during the Autumn full moon period, otherwise known as the time of the HARVEST MOON. The moon will rise early, linger into the next morning, and appear even larger than usual. Good news is that this will appear to be so for several days, so that even if skies are overcast, anyone can likely find a time to step outside and just gaze. Gaze long. Gaze longingly. And wonder. 

     

ESCAPE: An Age-Old, HUMAN, Story

LANTANA, 2021

 Can you name twelve synonyms for, or words related to, ESCAPE? 

(Take a moment to try.)

 The authors of ESCAPE: One Day We Had To Run managed to do so, using those words to structure a dramatic nonfiction picture book on the topic. Ming & Wah wrote the text and Carmen Vela illustrated the dozen accounts of ESCAPE with a variety of colors and tones, with sweeping scenes and emotionally packed shadows and angles. 

The twelve words they used as a table of contents?

CLING...DART...DEFY...DISGUISE...FLEE...FLY...PEDAL...RAFT...SPRINT...

STOWAWAY...SWIM...TUNNEL

Each of these launches a double page spread devoted to a single escape account spanning three centuries. Refugee stories in Western culture alone are timeless, going back to Moses parting the sea and even back to Adam and Eve being ejected from the Garden. Escaping persecution, trauma, unlivable condition, war, and expulsion is a human conditions that has occurred as long as there have been humans. The authors share twelve dramatic, actual events that reveal a wide range of people, causes, times, and places. 

Each double spread treatment uses the featured word, followed by a line or two. That, and a page of explanatory narrative, sprawl across an illustration that exposes and expands the harrowing accounts described. The first example is 

CLING: Syria to Greece, 2015. 

                                DON'T LET GO. HOLD TIGHT. NEVER GIVE UP.

The last steps to safety for two girls traveling with family and more in an overloaded boat takes them from Turkey to Greece. To avoid swamping the boat, the girls CLING to the sides of the boat, propelling and guiding it to their destination despite extreme cold and being ignored by passing boats. I particularly appreciated how often the refugees were described in years following their escapes, revealing their successes and contributions the their receiving nations.

These 2015 escapes were current events and came back to me in reading them here, although other accounts were more distant memories or even unknown. For example, DISGUISE: Scotland to France, 1745, is the account of Bonnie Prince Charles who, having failed to secure the British crown, fled for his life to France. Yes, disguised as a hooded woman. The remainder of his life was spent in various disguises as he fled and hid throughout Europe. 

The illustrations capture the tone and settings of each true journey with minimal figures, perspectives, geographic elements, and varied tones and depths. Opening and ending spreads were particularly helpful. The book concludes with the brief text from the UNIVERSAL DECLARATiON OF HUMAN RIGHTS, Article 13 and 14. Freedom, emigration, and asylum in safe countries are broadly agreed upon rights of every human, and yet societies and power groups make such journeys futile, or tenuous at best. Immigration and asylum claims are treated as current or even recent problems when every one of us knows this is not true. 

This book helps to share the global and timeless experiences of such desperate escapes. The opening spread helps in that, offering a minimalist double spread global map. The expanse of water as our planet's dominant feature is evident, and map details are few, allowing readers to note the twelve migrations indicated across our shared geography. In addition, the suggestion of an eastern sun and western crescent moon emphasis the passing of time during these journeys, and a subtle suggestion of the northern and southern jet streams suggest the never-ending forces of tides and winds and weather. 

Overall, this collection of escape stories provides perspective on the truth about human escape and need for safe harbor. It will be invaluable in classrooms, homes, and libraries when shared with children, ranging from young to teen. It also offers adults a chance to step away from headlines and recognize the WHO and WHY of current refugees and of our own personal and social histories. After all, the PILGRIMS came as a persecuted group, seeking a new home.

It could happen to any of us again.

Compare and Contrast: Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty

 You can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't change September habits after a lifetime of sharing books with kids. At this time of year, my love of books leaves me pining to have a classroom of kids on a carpet with a stack of picture books at hand.

So, indulge me, please. 

Two titles that are not new but deserve to be in the spotlight are about structures that actually ARE spotlit around the clock. Most who know anything about the Statue of Liberty are aware that its scaffolding structure/underpinnings are the design and execution of French designer/architect, Gustav Eiffel, the force behind the Eiffel Tower.

CHRONICLE BOOKS, 2017

In fact, his ground-breaking approach to massive constructions using materials and designs that could withstand shuddering earth forces preceded that tower. So did the Statue of Liberty. I wrote about HER RIGHT FOOT in a prior post, HERE. (If you haven't read it, I hope you will. It has great relevance to our current immigration issues.)

It was these prior successes that convinced Eiffel that he MUST be the designer to win a contest seeking a globally-impressive centerpiece for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. He intended to create a structure taller than any other in the world, one that visitors could enter and from which they could view breathtaking scenes of Paris and its surrounding countryside.

PICTURE WINDOW BOOKS, 2016
CAPSTONE 

Of course, he did win that assignment. The challenges he faced to actually have the structure built, in tie for the fair's opening, are described in THE EIFFEL TOWER: Gustav Eiffel's Spectaluar Idea, written by Sharon Katz Cooper and illustrated by Janna Bock. 

This is a nonfiction picture book that blends a slice-of-life period for Eiffel, not a full biography. Its focus is on the building/structure that is a global icon, one that has made the name EIFFEL so recognizable. It includes surprises like  the fact that it was intended to be disassembled after the  fair, but its life was extended for twenty years to allow Eiffel to fund part of the construction and pay himself back by admissions during those after-fair years. 

The building is well over a century old now and shows no sign of disappearing.

I found this while browsing library shelves on architecture and instantly recognized how appealing this library/school intended book really is. In a recent post ai wrote about the ways in which graphic/comics offer appeal and eager participation among capable readers who resist reading. 

Sharing these  two nonfiction picture books will spark readers to compare and contrast, to look closely at text and images, to discuss tone and voice and author's purpose. Many of the deep thinking processes that developing readers need to practice are encouraged by authentic text and fascinating content. Further research and focus are easily accessed through an abundance of resources ranging from expository text to video clips. Analyzing reliability of information presented as fact is another invaluable practice. These two iconic topics open up endless opportunities to evaluate sources and content about known entities. 

Give them both a look, and maybe you'll want to share them with readers you know, too.

Twenty-Five Years Since 9-11.

 

Photo credit: National Archives Catalog ID 5997250

Significant events always seem to be just moments ago and yet forever-ago. That can be true for the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a moment in history. 

And that moment in history, twenty-five years ago today, was the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and over a Pennsylvania field. 

A quarter century ago. Two full "generations" of this nation (and the world, since this was an event that had a global effect) have no living memory of the day itself. Or of the weeks that followed, filled with confusion, desperation, hyper-patriotism, and actions that resonate through to today. 

Since that time, some outstanding books have been published that help younger folks develop deeper understanding of the events and their repercussions. I've written about several of them HERE, HERE, HERE, and an MG novel  HERE.

Check out the official memorial site information about the anniversary HERE.