Armstrong Special Edition: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon

by Torben Kuhlmann, David Henry Wilson (Translator)

Overview

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, this stunning picture book is now available in a special limited edition complete with a new cover, an introduction by the author, and three spreads of new art depicting the Apollo 11 mission and the moon landing!

Torben Kuhlmann transports readers to the moon and beyond in Armstrong—The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon, where dreams are determined only by the size of one’s imagination and the biggest innovators are the smallest of all.



Praise for Armstrong—The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon

“‘One Small Step for a Mouse’ indeed.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“This beautifully illustrated story is a feast for mind and eyes and a strong selection to complement STEAM curricula.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735843783
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Series:	Mouse Adventures
Edition description:	Special ed.
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Torben Kuhlmann lives and works in Hamburg as a freelance children’s author and illustrator. He studied illustration and communications design at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. He wrote and illustrated his first picture book, Lindbergh: the Tale of a Flying Mouse, in 2012 as his final thesis, and it was published in 2014 by NordSüd Verlag. It quickly became a bestseller and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Three more mouse adventures followed and were equally successful. In 2024, the tenth anniversary was celebrated by the publication of Earhart, the fifth book in the series. However, a few mouse-free books have also crept into the repertoire during the last ten years, including Moletown, The Clown Said No, and The Gray City.

David Henry Wilson, born in London, is a playwright, novelist, children’s book author, and translator. His plays have been produced in many well-known theaters in Great Britain as well as abroad, and his children’s books—especially the Jeremy James series—have been translated into many languages. His novel The Coachman Rat received critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. For many years he lectured at the universities of Bristol (England) and Konstanz (Germany), where he founded the university theater. His translations from French and German cover many subjects, ranging from literary theory, art, travel, and general culture to children’s novels and picture books.

Editorial Reviews

01/24/2020

Gr 1–3—Night after night, a little mouse gazes up at the moon and discovers that it is not made from cheese, as he had been taught, but of rock. Unfortunately, few of his fellow mice believe this revelation, but with the encouragement of a wise old mouse and the knowledge of forgotten mouse history, the protagonist decides to go to the moon. As he studies and plans his expedition, creating and experimenting with a spacesuit and rockets, the little mouse gains the attention of some much bigger people. When those people finally corner him, the mouse blasts off into the vast sky and what lies beyond. This re-release of the second installment of Kuhlmann's mouse adventures, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission, is just as enjoyable and educational as it was before. While the book may seem long, it is perfectly paced, with an easy to understand plot, scientific background, and detailed illustrations. The colored pencil and watercolor illustrations add to the world and time period by emphasizing certain historical references, but also showing all the details of science and space. The scientific notes at the end of the tale give those inquisitive minds any answers they were still missing and provide some more details into the Apollo mission. VERDICT A great way to introduce students to the history behind the first man on the moon.—Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL

School Library Journal

Small pleasures fill the pages of Kuhlmann's picture-book-size graphic novel…Maybe it's the meticulous, photorealistic art (or just my scientific naïveté), but the mouse's experiments read not only as charming fun but also as somehow plausible…The successful moon landing and return are triumphant moments, but it's his tinkerings that provide a whole universe of joy.

The New York Times Book Review - Nicole Lamy

★ 06/27/2016
Kuhlmann’s Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse is a hard act to follow, but this companion book doesn’t disappoint. Its young mouse hero is plagued by difficulties from the moment he resolves to explore space. Although he finds an ally in an elderly mouse at the Smithsonian (the mouse from Lindbergh grown old, readers will conclude), he loses his workshop and most of his designs in a fire, then has to elude G-men in fedoras who pursue him on arson charges. The agents and their German shepherds are on the mouse’s heels as he launches his tin-can rocket through the chimney. His mission is a success, though only the mice know about it—until human astronauts land on the moon and discover a tiny flag. As with the previous book, Kuhlmann’s artwork is the real star. Every spread is drafted with remarkable imaginative power (the mouse’s handsewn spacesuit enchants, as does an early experimental vessel, a firecracker attached to a roller skate), while the space scenes are NASA-worthy. This adventure will easily win Kuhlmann even more fans. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

*Starred Review. "Kuhlmann intermixes beautiful wordless spreads and paragraphs of text as the mouse studies, sketches, builds, and ultimately takes to the skies. Rich with adventure and the spirit of discovery, the text rightfully declares, 'Nothing is too difficult for a clever mouse!'"— Julia Smith, Booklist

"The detailed, warm-tone illustrations, in pencil and watercolor, document the mouse’s progress as he repurposes household objects — an alarm clock, tin foil, a glass ink well — to construct a spacesuit and power his flight. Period details evoke the mid-1950s, and a plot twist suggests that the mouse’s work paved the way for the human space program."- Nicole Lamy, New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

★ 2016-06-01
A furry genius with eyes on the skies goes where no one has gone before.Golden-toned, lavishly detailed views of a mid-1950s world from a city mouse's eye level enrich a soaring tale of astronautic achievement. Inspired by a visit to that hidden wing of the Smithsonian where flying machines built by rodent aviators of the past are exhibited, a mouse resolves to bring back proof of his theory that the moon is made of stone (the other mice, understandably, find the notion that it's made of cheese more compelling). Persevering through multiple false starts and setbacks, including a disastrous fire caused by an experimental roller-skate rocket, he constructs at last an oddly familiar-looking multistage craft that carries him into space and on to a lunar landing. Clad in a space suit with an ink-bottle helmet, he ventures out to gather a souvenir rock and plant a tiny flag, then returns in triumph to be acclaimed by his peers. The illustrations are visually immersive for their wealth of precisely rendered period items and architecture, also adding side business both humorous and dramatic to the epic venture. Positing that some of the mouse's diminutive but exact design drawings later fell into human hands and inspired the Apollo program, Kuhlmann (Moletown, 2015) closes with a short history of our own early space travel featuring photorealistic portraits of that other Armstrong and like (supposed) pioneers. "One Small Step for a Mouse" indeed. (Illustrated fiction. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews