Everyone knows there aren't any aliens.' Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob (newly re-issued by Templar) is a truly wonderful piece of art and story alike. Simon Bartram (author and illustrator) fully engages an audience of any age, you will never tire of reading this story. The illustrations are beautiful and unlike any children's story I have come across before; detailed and realistic, they are wonderful discussion points with your children or school class. The story tells the narrative of Bob and his daily life. Bob's job is to maintain the moon and he goes about it dutifully and enthusiastically. As the story progresses, the humorous narrative tells the reader that of course there are no aliens and that Bob is a Moon expert, but the illustrations clearly show aliens on each page - stealing his cake, hiding in a crater, in the bath tub. My son whole heartedly loves proving Bob wrong and pointing out all the illustrations on each page, laughing in delight when he sees a 'cheeky alien' hiding from Bob. As a picture book, all parents will enjoy reading this story during the daytime or bedtime, the narrative is engaging and the children are fully absorbed in the images. Although at first it doesn't jump out as a 'typical' children's story as the illustrations are of an older style, this is what makes it unique and also what draws the children to it. Bob is a wonderful character and the story itself is simplistic enough to engage any child from three years upwards. I can imagine this story would be wonderful to teach in a Primary setting as there are many directions you could take with the concept of the 'man on the moon' - Space topics, looking at difference and developing visual literacy, among them. Personally, I loved the adult humour - the fact it only takes Bob 15 minutes to get to work on the Moon - and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this to my children; it has become a firm favourite at bedtime. It might not jump out to you on the shelf, but once you have picked it up, Bartram will not disappoint you or your children
Reading Zone
Squeezing in one more, this time a space-going hero that we have loved right from the very start of this blog...! Simon Bartram's fantastic "Bob" books in picture book form were some of our early favourites. Simon also went on to produce a whole series of fab little paperback adventures for more advanced readers, swapping out the fabulous colour illustrations for equally fabulous black and white art to accompany 5 stories - wrapped up into one delicious volume as "Bob: Lunar Adventures" Spaceman Bob embarks on new space adventures with a disappearing moon, a movie career, clone chaos, a right royal disaster and some heartless robots in this anthology. Charlotte has always loved the running gag that Bob lives in firm denial of the existence of aliens (despite actually owning an alien dog, and coming into close contact with aliens pretty much every single time he dons a spacesuit). I always hoped that more people would discover the Bob books as they're absolutely fantastic. Now you've got no excuse with this latest collection celebrating 15 years of awesome Bobness!
Read It Daddy
The first book in a series about Bob, otherwise known as the man on the Moon. Bob's job includes cleaning and tidying the Moon, entertaining tourists and dispelling rumours that aliens exist. Celebrating 15 years of Bob, this anniversary edition is a timeless, fun and clever story.
Big Issue in the North