The Sea of Tranquility - Softcover

Haddon, Mark; Birmingham, Christian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006645577 ISBN 13: 9780006645573

Publisher: Picture Lions, 1997

Synopsis

The excitement of the first moon landing is captured through the eyes of a child, and through the words of the adult that child became.

A British author recounts his boyhood fascination with the moon and with the rocketships and missions that preceded the first lunar landing. Haddon’s text lyrically transports readers to that dramatic moment in 1969 when, in living rooms around the world, people saw men roving the moon’s lunar landscape. From the boy’s dream of “rocketing across the cold, black miles and landing on crumbly rock” to the actual event of the two American astronauts “ bouncing through the dust in the Sea of Tranquility,” the author’s measured tones weaves the aspirations of the heart with history. Full-bleed illustrations, softly textured as if seen through the scrim of time, interpret the text with judicious sentiment. For example, a pretend flag – the boy’s blue-striped shirt with a red pocket – sounds a childlike echo when it appears in the boy’s dream, planted on the moon beside the Stars and Stripes. Nostalgia, sweet and convincing, shines through the restraint of both text and illustrations. (Ages 4-12)

About this title

Review:

A touching recollection, evocatively illustrated, of a child’s-eye view of the moon and the excitement and wonder he felt when the first moon landing took place. (Guardian 21/9/96)

It is back to July 16 1969 for Mark Haddon’s The Sea of Tranquility. Apollo’s giant leap for mankind is re-lived through the wondering imagination of a small boy and Christian Birmingham’s dream-like celestial pastels. (Financial Times 12/10/96)

From the Back Cover:

Onse upon a time there was a little boy who dreamed of flying to the moon. At night he would sit at his bedroom window, staring through his Dad's binoculars, and wonder what it would be like to walk across the Sea of Tranquility. He hoped that one day the astronauts would find a way to land there. And then, one cloudless night, they did...

"A touching recollection, evocatively illustrated, of a child's-eye view of the moon and the excitement and wonder he felt when the first mon landing took place." 'The Guardian'

About this edition

• Publisher: Picture Lions
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0006645577
• ISBN 13: 9780006645573
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32