THE MOON

PLOT SUMMARY

Obviously early in the career of Seymour Simon, this older edition sports black and white pictures of the Earth’s moon with accompanying black and/or white text on opposing background. The presentation is simple and straightforward, with factual text presented in a justified center placement. The scientific details are interspersed with smaller, simpler facts, or points of interest, that would appeal to an elementary aged child.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
As noted in the School Library Journal review, it is time to replace this text!
At the time, this edition would have been fantastic! With the age of digital photography and newer publishing techniques and ideas, this book appears dated. The text does follow a sequence of general to more specific. Yet, the text does not vary in style, giving no energy to draw in a reader. The reading would be improved with smaller segments of information and possibly captions for the pictures, instead of the comments embedded in the text. The design of this edition is too monotonous to spark interest for a long period of time and lacks the references, notes or a bibliography for additional questions or research.

REVIEW
Note: This review was based on the original 1984 edition. While there were no published reviews on the older book, the comments posted reflect the reviewer’s opinion of the new edition with some comparison to the original book.


Booklist (October 15, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 4))
Gr. 2-4. This revised edition of The Moon (1984) features many new photographs and color reproductions.


Horn Book starred (Fall 2004)
These new editions include fresh images and minor editing of the original texts; what hasn't changed is Simon's gently authoritative signature voice.


School Library Journal (January 1, 2004)
Gr 2-5-It's time to take your 1984 copy of Simon's The Moon off your shelf and replace it with this shiny new edition. This scientific trek to the moon brought to life by NASA photography has been carried into the 21st century through advancements in imaging technology. Although the first edition's black-and-white photographs taken from space and on the Moon were impressive for their time, the digitally remastered color photographs in this update are incredible.

CONNECTIONS
This book would best be served in conjunction with books about the Earth and the sun. I have seen the book being used by classrooms as part of an integrated study unit on the solar system.

Similar books could be used as follow up for children who had enjoyed THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS, LOST IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM by Joanna Cole.