"If you decide to go to the moon in your own rocket ship, read this book before you start." So begins a resplendent you-are-there nonfiction picture book, narrated in second person, with sensational full-page paintings. We follow an eager blonde-haired boy as he blasts off in a rocket ship and heads for the moon. Weightless, he swims about the cabin, sleeps tied down, and watches the sparkling stars in every direction. After two and a half days, he lands, takes a moonwalk in his spacesuit, and looks out over the lifeless gray sand and stone into the blackness of space. On his way back to Earth, the clouds and continents and seas appear, a swirling ball of color in the black void. A four page Technicolor foldout displays a majestic sweep of biomes; animals of land, sea, and air; people and buildings through history; and a multicultural mix of children leaping into a lake.

Yes, this is a book that supplies fabulous facts about the moon, but the real message, implicit in the illustrations, is repeated in the last page: "... you promise you will always do your best to protect all life on our beautiful Earth." Ask your kids what they could do. Get familiar with Earth's geology in McNulty's companion classic, How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World.



THEMES: ASTRONAUTS. MOON. SPACE FLIGHT TO THE MOON. VOYAGES, IMAGINARY.