Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon

by Torben Kuhlmann, David Henry Wilson (Translator)

Overview

A long time ago a mouse learned to fly . . . and crossed the Atlantic. But what happened next? Torben Kuhlmann's stunning new book transports readers to the moon and beyond! On the heels of Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse comes Armstrong: A Mouse on the Moon—where dreams are determined only by the size of your imagination and the biggest innovators are the smallest of all. The book ends with a brief non-fiction history of human space travel—from Galileo’s observations concerning the nature of the universe to man's first steps on the moon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735842625
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	213,991
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	AD730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Torben Kuhlmann was born in Germany in 1982. Highly creative as a young child, Torben was recognized as early as kindergarten for being a gifted draftsman. Captivated by small airplanes, strange machines, and steaming trains, these elements made their way

Editorial Reviews

Small pleasures fill the pages of Kuhlmann's picture-book-size graphic novel…Maybe it's the meticulous, photorealistic art (or just my scientific naïveté), but the mouse's experiments read not only as charming fun but also as somehow plausible…The successful moon landing and return are triumphant moments, but it's his tinkerings that provide a whole universe of joy.

The New York Times Book Review - Nicole Lamy

★ 06/27/2016
Kuhlmann’s Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse is a hard act to follow, but this companion book doesn’t disappoint. Its young mouse hero is plagued by difficulties from the moment he resolves to explore space. Although he finds an ally in an elderly mouse at the Smithsonian (the mouse from Lindbergh grown old, readers will conclude), he loses his workshop and most of his designs in a fire, then has to elude G-men in fedoras who pursue him on arson charges. The agents and their German shepherds are on the mouse’s heels as he launches his tin-can rocket through the chimney. His mission is a success, though only the mice know about it—until human astronauts land on the moon and discover a tiny flag. As with the previous book, Kuhlmann’s artwork is the real star. Every spread is drafted with remarkable imaginative power (the mouse’s handsewn spacesuit enchants, as does an early experimental vessel, a firecracker attached to a roller skate), while the space scenes are NASA-worthy. This adventure will easily win Kuhlmann even more fans. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

*Starred Review. "Kuhlmann intermixes beautiful wordless spreads and paragraphs of text as the mouse studies, sketches, builds, and ultimately takes to the skies. Rich with adventure and the spirit of discovery, the text rightfully declares, 'Nothing is too difficult for a clever mouse!'"— Julia Smith, Booklist

"The detailed, warm-tone illustrations, in pencil and watercolor, document the mouse’s progress as he repurposes household objects — an alarm clock, tin foil, a glass ink well — to construct a spacesuit and power his flight. Period details evoke the mid-1950s, and a plot twist suggests that the mouse’s work paved the way for the human space program."- Nicole Lamy, New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

Who knew that a mouse was the first mammal to set foot on the moon? Kuhlmann, a German artist and inspired draughtsman, relates the little grey mouse’s tale in words and extraordinary pictures. The pink-eared mouse is an astronomer and a draughtsman himself. When he shares his observations with his fellow cheese-obsessed mice, they simply do not believe him (The moon is made of cheese!). A mysterious, mouse-sized message beckons him to the Smithsonian, where he’s stunned by the aviation exhibits and learns that there were once flying mice. From then on, the mouse is determined to go for the moon. How he investigates, sews a space suit, builds a catapult, a rocket sled, and a space capsule turns into major drama, including a raging fire and snarling dogs. Yet he does take off, reaches the moon and bounds about, leaving a tiny banner announcing his presence. Mouse’s return is simpler and shorter, eased by red parachutes that deposit him back in New York. Very few humans know of his exploits, though he’s greeted by a horde of congratulatory mice and NASA scientists begin to imitate his pioneering work. Kuhlmann illustrates the story with marvelously rendered golden pictures, often full-bleed spreads of period detail and imagination, such as a mouse-eye view of the Smithsonian’s aviation hall and a superb panorama of the city as Mouse’s rocket heads for the moon. There is a several-page bonus history of aviation, featuring Galileo, Robert Goddard, Laika, Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong and Apollo II—the second earthlings on the moon. Space enthusiasts of any age will delight in discovering the truth about Armstrong, “Moon Mouse of 1955.” Ad astra per aspera! Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 8 up.

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

★ 08/01/2016
Gr 2–6—Uniquely similar in artistic design and writing style to Kuhlmann's Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse, this title relates the story of another clever mouse's fascination with the moon, which, his telescope shows him, is actually "a giant ball of stone"—not the big ball of cheese that his friends say it is. An invitation to visit the Smithsonian Museum and its room full of mouse-size flying machines and some encouraging advice from an old gray mouse docent ("Study human knowledge") fill the tiny inventor with the determination to pursue his dream of a moonshot adventure that even a catastrophic setback cannot subdue. But police detectives are on the mouse's trail; locating parts for his rocket and space capsule becomes a dangerous game. As the small rodent pulls on his spacesuit, the police arrive with their sniffing dogs, just in time to witness the successful blastoff up the chimney and into orbit. Kuhlmann's exquisitely rendered realistic illustrations—most in watercolor and pencil—are filled with minute details; annotated architectural renderings show each phase of the mouse's inventions, then pieces and parts, in photographic detail as various components are assembled. "A Short History of Space Travel" includes drawn and painted "photos" and bits of information about scientists, animals, and astronauts who were key figures in U.S. and Soviet space programs leading to the first moon landing. VERDICT This beautifully illustrated story is a feast for mind and eyes and a strong selection to complement STEAM curricula.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

★ 2016-06-01
A furry genius with eyes on the skies goes where no one has gone before.Golden-toned, lavishly detailed views of a mid-1950s world from a city mouse's eye level enrich a soaring tale of astronautic achievement. Inspired by a visit to that hidden wing of the Smithsonian where flying machines built by rodent aviators of the past are exhibited, a mouse resolves to bring back proof of his theory that the moon is made of stone (the other mice, understandably, find the notion that it's made of cheese more compelling). Persevering through multiple false starts and setbacks, including a disastrous fire caused by an experimental roller-skate rocket, he constructs at last an oddly familiar-looking multistage craft that carries him into space and on to a lunar landing. Clad in a space suit with an ink-bottle helmet, he ventures out to gather a souvenir rock and plant a tiny flag, then returns in triumph to be acclaimed by his peers. The illustrations are visually immersive for their wealth of precisely rendered period items and architecture, also adding side business both humorous and dramatic to the epic venture. Positing that some of the mouse's diminutive but exact design drawings later fell into human hands and inspired the Apollo program, Kuhlmann (Moletown, 2015) closes with a short history of our own early space travel featuring photorealistic portraits of that other Armstrong and like (supposed) pioneers. "One Small Step for a Mouse" indeed. (Illustrated fiction. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews