Elephant on the Moon

by Mikołaj Pasiński, Gosia Herba (Illustrator), David Malcolm (Translator)

In a small town there lives a lady astronomer. Every evening she looks at the moon through her telescope. She knows it like the back of her own hand. Even in her sleep she can name all the mountains, the craters and the oceans of the silvery globe. One night she makes an amazing discovery. Can it be that there s an elephant living on the moon? The members of the Moon Society refuse to believe her. Elephant on the Moon is a richly illustrated tale of courage, passion and determination. Although it is directed mainly at younger readers, it refers to serious events. Sir Paul Neal in the seventeenth century one of the astronomers of the Royal Society is supposed to have been the first to observe an elephant on the moon. At the time, his discovery provoked much confusion and fired the imaginations of many writers. Thanks to Samuel Butler s satirical account, the story reached France. Fontaine himself wrote a tale about it Un animal dans la lune. Almost 350 years later Gosia Herba and Miko aj Pasi ski have come back to this story of the moon, and out of it they have spun a new tale full of adventure."

Genres: Picture Books

44 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a Lady Astronomer spies an elephant on the moon, she shares her discovery with the Moon Society, whose members are skeptical. The viewing she arranges doesn't go well, and soon she is a laughingstock. Fed up with the ridicule directed at her by the townsfolk, the Lady Astronomer builds a rocket and travels to the moon, meeting the elephant she saw in her telescope, and learning about his lunar activities. Eventually, she decides that the moon is for her, and she stays to do her research there...

Originally published in Poland as Słoń na księżycu, and made available in English by Centrala, a Polish comics and picture-book publisher which has recently opened an office in London, this immensely engaging title pairs an entertaining tale with bold, striking illustrations. I appreciated the fact that the Lady Astronomer isn't cowed by the ridicule she must endure, and that she takes steps to prove that she is indeed correct about the elephant on the moon. The artwork by Gosia Herba is visually stunning, alternating between a predominately blue and black color palette and one that also includes lots of red. Her figures are stylized, quirky, and full of humor. The decorative end-papers add a nice touch. All in all, I really enjoyed Elephant On the Moon, and hope to see more from this author/artist duo, as well as from Centrala. We need more translated children's books!

[stercz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jest to pięknie i bardzo sugestywnie narysowane, historia jest w sumie urocza, a tekst dobrze czyta się na głos. Trochę mam problem z tym, że historia o dążeniu do prawdy o sobie jest tu spleciona z dyskursem naukowym (przez co i jedno, i drugie łatwo podać w wątpliwość, zależnie od perspektywy).

[Książkomanka · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5 ⭐️

Średniawka, nie kupiła mnie

[madziar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka nawiązująca do prawdziwego wydarzenia z historii astronomii - zaobserwowania słonia na księżycu - w skrócie: o sile woli i determinacji, pewności siebie, dążeniu do celu, poczuciu własnej wartości, ale też o psychologii tłumu i ludzkich reakcjach.