Man on the Moon: a day in the life of Bob

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When astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their 'giant leap for mankind' across a ghostly lunar landscape, they were watched by some 600 million people on Earth 240,000 miles away. Chaikin is a commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, and the NPR programs Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation. He has been an advisor to NASA on space policy and public communications.

The story is told in third person which allows the reader to feel that they are following Bob closely, allowing them to warm to the character, making him likeable. The story is set in the style of “a day in the life” and uses time to show this. This technique makes it easy for children to follow as it allows them to relate it to their day to day life, such as getting up and having breakfast and having a bath before going to bed.

To develop reading for pleasure through personal reflection

Man on the moon (a day in the life of Bob) follows the life of Bob for the day as he goes about his day as an astronaut. It is set between earth and space and shows Bob’s transition between the two and has elements of real life in the sense of his morning and evening routine and some elements of fantasy such as tourist tours to the moon. Bob is known as the Man on the Moon and is the main character in this story, insight is given into the tasks he does on a daily basis such as “changing into his special man on the moon suit” and entertaining tourist spaceships. The book also briefly introduces two characters who are Bob’s friends; Billy the man on Mars and Sam the man on Saturn. Have you ever wondered who or what lived on the moon? William Joyce's debut The Man in The Moon not only introduces to the jolly man who lives there (nope I'm not talking Santa Claus), he'll also tell you how he got there. We're huge fans of the moon in our home, and I can say for certainty that next time we're looking up at the moon, we'll all be looking for the wonderful man in the moon, the guardian of children. I am not a believer in the conspiracy theory of the moon landings. There were just too many people involved, and that many people simply can't be counted upon to keep their mouths shut for all these years.

This tale starts off perfectly happy but once Pitch, the King of Nightmares, finds out that this boy has never had a nightmare he vows to make the boy his own and deem him the Prince of Nightmares. In the outcome of the battle the boy is left alone on the moon to be raised by the Moonbots, Moonmice and giant Glowworms who were also left behind. As he grows, he discovers the planet Earth through his father's telescope & realises that there are children on the far away planet that are much like him. As the children's lost balloons float up to him he finds that he can hear their hopes and dreams if he held them to his ear. A superb account . . . Apollo may be the only achievement by which our age is remembered a thousand years from now' Arthur C. ClarkeAlso,there was hardly any discussion of the colossal amounts spent to get to the moon,and the environmental impact of the moon missions. There was a fierce rivalry to be the first man on the moon but Deke Slayton,their boss,chose Neil Armstrong.It is another matter that Armstrong was never comfortable in the publicity spotlight and became something of a recluse in later life. Chaikin collaborated with moonwalker-turned-artist Alan Bean to write Apollo: An Eyewitness Account, published in 1998 by the Greenwich Workshop Press. He also co-edited The New Solar System, a compendium of writings by planetary scientists, now in its fourth edition. His essays include the chapter on human spaceflight in The National Geographic Encyclopedia of Space, published in 2004, and Live from the Moon: The Societal Impact of Apollo for NASA’s 2007 book The Societal Impact of Spaceflight. Perhaps I am a little biased, though. As an expatriate Yankee, one who is shamed and saddened by much of what my country has done, the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions are one of the few things my country did in the Twentieth Century (and so far in the Twenty-First) for which I am actually proud. Creative writing- there are so many opportunities for creative writing tasks as a direct result of looking at this book. For example, writing postcards as if they were visiting the moon, writing tourist leaflets all about the moon (perhaps in collaboration with science lessons), writing Bob’s job description and then applying for that job etc.

Both the the kids were engrossed in this story. They loved the pictures and the story. They both gave it 5 stars. I think this story helps the imagination burn brighter and stoke our powers to dream big things. So I hope the kids can dream big beautiful dreams tonight. Creating your own alien, what colour, how many arms, legs and eyes, are they wearing clothes, what do those look like- are they human clothes or something different? Aside from explaining the technicalities of trans-lunar injection Chaikin does something more throughout this book. He allows the reader to see beyond the public image of what an astronaut is and understand their inner thoughts. How they felt preparing for each mission, the emotions and thoughts they experienced on the moon and the loss some of them felt once they returned to earth. Drawing on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with the astronauts and mission personnel, this is the story of the twentieth century's greatest human achievement, minute-by-minute, through the eyes of those who were there.Apollo 10,commanded by Tom Stafford went all the way to the moon,without landing,as a dress rehearsal for the mission of Apollo 11. There is also the story of Alan Shepard,who managed to get the command of Apollo 14,at the ripe age of 47,much to the dismay of the others,who had been waiting in line.