The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon

By Dean Robbins, Sean Rubin (Illustrator)

An astronaut's artistic journey captures the moon's beauty beyond the lens.

4.2/5 Goodreads · 352 ratings

40 pages· 877 words· Est. 7 min read-aloud

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Bookroo's summary

Alan Bean, a navy pilot turned astronaut, becomes the first artist to walk on the moon. His journey on Apollo 12 reveals the lunar surface's breathtaking beauty, inspiring him to paint what cameras couldn't capture. As he returns to Earth, Alan's art offers humanity a glimpse of the moon through his unique perspective. What secrets of the cosmos will his brush unveil?

From the publisher

Journey to the moon on the Apollo 12 mission with Alan Bean, the fourth astronaut to walk on the lunar surface and the only artist to paint its beauty firsthand!As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes. When he returned to Earth, he began to paint what he saw. Alan’s paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon. Journalist and storyteller Dean Robbins’s tale of this extraordinary astronaut is masterful, and artist Sean Rubin’s illustrations are whimsical and unexpected. With back matter that includes photos of the NASA mission, images of Alan’s paintings, and a timeline of lunar space travel, this is one adventure readers won’t want to miss!

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