The 40th anniversary of the first time a human being walked on the moon is upon us. We know now what happened, but let me share with you this little gem from 1961, well before the details were ironed out.
“I Want to Be a Space Pilot” by Carla Green, illustrated by Donna Cieslak, was one book in the “I Want to Be a…” series of children’s books.
The idea was to explain careers in ways that children could understand.
Some bits they got right or close to right, like astronaut training…
…but some parts were a little optimistic.
“Before I go to the moon,” said Kip, “brave space pilots may have built a space station. It will be between the earth and the moon. I can stop there.”
Yeah, they may. Then again, they may not.
Check also the lunar colony that the guy is studying houseplants in. Love the optimism.
There’s more, but let’s cut to the final page. The looks on the kids’ faces in the rear strikes me as fairly evil. Little does Kip know that they’ve punched tiny holes in his helmet.
Mwahahahaaaa…
I picked up some other vintage finds. There were some LIFE magazines from late ’68, and from July and August ’69 all having to do with the moon landing that I couldn’t resist. I’ll share some of that another time.
Until then, space cadets!
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