From Publishers Weekly
Each day, a lanky bachelor named Bob leaves his red-brick townhouse and bicycles to a hilltop launch pad. He exchanges his tweedy threads for a form-fitting white jumpsuit with a crescent moon on the chest, then boards a squat rocket for the moon. Tripping lightly across the planet's golden surface, Bob vacuums space junk out of craters ("Quite often astronauts drop candy wrappers and cans") and enjoys a club sandwich with the Man on Mars and the Man on Saturn. He never notices the short green guys who watch from a distance, steal a cupcake from his picnic lunch and crowd into a wordless spread to mug for readers. When Bob addresses human tourists, who wear bubble-shaped glass helmets over their ordinary clothes, he denies that aliens exist; observant readers will suspect otherwise. Bartram (Pumpkin Moon), however, never resolves this joke. He pictures Bob returning to Earth amid a commuter crowd of people and green folk alike, which suggests (
la Men in Black) that antennaed creatures are a common sight, and muddles the punch line ("Bob would know if there were any [aliens]... wouldn't he?"). Bartram salutes William Joyce with his baroque images of a retro-futuristic everyday world and a smiley-face full moon, as well as his lucid palette of lawn green, clear blue and scarlet. The meticulous artwork plays off the deadpan text to buoy a familiar plot. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-It's a tough gig, being custodian of the Moon, but every morning, reliable Bob rises at six, has breakfast, and then boards his rocket for the daily commute. His duties include not only sweeping the lunar surface clear of the previous day's litter, but also offering entertainment to arriving bevies of interplanetary tourists, and even running the gift shop. In Bartram's elaborately detailed, broadly comic illustrations, children can follow this lantern-jawed, space-suit-clad worker as he energetically runs his vacuum cleaner, provides photo ops and souvenirs for crowds of helmeted visitors, then switches on the Moon's night-light before heading wearily back to Earth. He never notices the small green aliens that tag gleefully along throughout the day. Slip this into a storytime, or a classroom unit on occupations, for a quick but funny change of pace.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Simon Bartram has illustrated four children’s books, including PUMPKIN MOON, about which PUBLISHERS WEEKLY said, "Bartram reinvents David Weisner’s TUESDAY with grimacing jack-o-lanterns and a hellfire orange gleam." Of MAN ON THE MOON!, Simon Bartram says, "I wrote the book after I read reports in the newspaper that soon civilians would be taking trips to the moon. If so, then someone would have to keep the moon tidy and presentable - hence, Bob. Another relevant point of inspiration was that I have always suspected that some of my closest friends are not from this planet!"
