by Sam Juliano
On Star Trek it is referred to as “the final frontier” but humankind has barely scratched the surface in regard to space exploration, and only rarely has an American set foot on our lunar neighbor, the closest celestial sphere to our planet. Still, it is not at all remotely difficult to envision a time in the not so distant future when Gene Roddenberry’s fantastical vision is no longer inconceivable, even if we are still a very long way from the context of the classic cartoon Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century. In a captivating wordless picture book titled Field Trip to the Moon by newcomer John Hare a class embarks on a routine venture that is no more startling in concept and execution than a trip to the Stature of Liberty or a science museum. While destination and mode of transportation are incredulous the time spent on the moon suggest that the native inhabitants bear far more similarities to earthlings than our typical hostile stereotypes would pose. At its most basic the wholly chimerical Field Trip to the Moon is a story of friendship in one of the last locations one would think it could surface.
The front dust jacket cover, one replicated on the inside hardcover, depicts a smaller-sized class leaving a space station to board a shuttle craft for their day trip to the moon. One student, later identified as a girl lags behind seemingly mired in deep thought. First time illustrator Hare negotiates acrylic paints to craft a rich outer space tapestry, with the yellow shuttle at the forefront of the black space, punctuated by the stars. A “Slow- school zone” marker serves as an amusing retro to the time when such an expedition was unthinkable. The cover is one of the most striking of any 2019 picture book. After a dedication/copyright canvas denoting the shuttle approaching its lunar destination the class and its single chaperon gather in a line to explore as the space craft anchors itself. The teacher and the eleven students pass through a rocky hamlet, with the extra-inquisitive girl lagging somewhat behind to look at the surrounding more closely.
The initial visualization of the Earth coincides with the twelve humans jumping over a crater, aided by a lighter gravitational pull. The adult guide then stands atop a mountainous configuration to address the group as the girl stands in the background, holding a note pad. While the students enjoy the more physical allure of the once-unfathomable excursion the girls lags behind with he pad and crayons drawing the earth from her birds-eye view behind a rock formation that separates her from the rest of the party. Her engagement eventually leads to sleep. When she awakens she finds herself alone, though she observes a plenty of lunar footprints which she surmises will lead her to her classmates. In three successive vignettes she is seen running towards the already-departed spacecraft. She raises her hands frantically for attention and then holds her hands over her head realizing she was accidentally left behind. The yellow blip can be seen in the final half-page panel, emphasizing that nobody has yet realized the unconscionable mistake. Young readers might connect this long-shot gaffe with the even more unlikely situation in the movie Home Alone, where the main childhood protagonist was left at home by the rest of his traveling family due to a head check miscalculation.
After the deserted clandestine artist gets over the shock she begins to draw again on her pad, starting off with a green crayon. Like the trolls on the Medieval Madness pinball machine who suddenly bolt up from the playing field, one eyed aliens appear through the rocky surface and nearby mountain. Oblivious to the intrusion of her privacy the white suited-with red-lined solo space explorer continues her drawing, trading off with other colors. Her audience begins to shows themselves in a scenario that would do H. G. Wells proud. The moon natives sport variety in shape and size, though they vision is strictly monocle. They seem thrilled and amused standing behind the space-suited wonder, but fall backwards when they are finally seen. The student, armed only with her sketch notebook, closes in the rock where these friendly if mysterious inhabitants have congregated at and displays the drawing that brings great joy among this initially frightened quintet. The girl offers one alien a a purple crayon. In Drew Daywalt’s wildly-popular The Day the Crayons Quit this is the crayon who told its user that he always opted for this color to draw “grapes, dragons and wizard hats” but for these grey denizens it is a color of mustaches and belly circles and the opening salvo in full crayon box utilization, one that leads to a drawing bonanza. Our generous adventurer is left only with the grey crayon, which the budding artists realize will do little more than blend in with the lunar backgrounds.
Much like another recent picture book The Farmer and the Clown, where a baby clown fell off a train unbeknownst to his guardians, and is rescued when the train returns to the scene of the crime, the shuttle craft returns. While the girl jumps for joy as the chaperone runs to embrace her -previously she has documented the ship’s arrival and the terrified countenance of her new friends- the moon people disappear, leaving only their artistic creations behind. Unaware that anyone else was present or may have drawn on the rocks the trip leader order his young charge to erase all he assumed she drew in what he concluded was irresponsible graffiti. One of the hidden moon people darts up to displace one of the drawings, and later all hold up their new instruments of creativity as the girl and her guardian head off, with the former waving with her back turned. Back in the ship, the girl begins to draw one of her newest friends with her one remaining grey crayon, in this instance the most realistic color to complete the picture.
The soulful human connection in Field Trip to the Moon echoes back to Jon Agee’s masterful It’s Only Stanley where a love struck canine communicates with his own soulmate on Mars. Hare’s effervescent tale humanizes the mystery of space exploration with vivid and sublime tapestries that superbly craft the other wordly atmosphere via strong contrasts and the minimalism of a barren place where civilization is as alien as its elusive inhabitants. The rich blacks, which anchor the whites and yellow accentuate which naturally defies familiarity, and for young readers a benevolent perception of not only the possibility of life in outer space but the inherent kindness that in such an instance transcends our own race. Gleaming and polished, Field Trip to the Moon is one of the most impressive picture books of the year. The fact that the earliest grades have found it so irresistible and it has been shown to have such wide appeal should make it one of the short list titles for Caldecott voters. It does everything a wordless book should: It tells a gripping story, it stirs the full gamut of emotions and through its exemplary art it commands a sense of place. While its release is the 50th Anniversary of the historic moon landing of 1969, Field Trip to the Moon shuffles ahead in time to a frontier that should excite both adults and children alike, expanding the imagination as it poses the universality of communicative modes.
Note: This is the fifth entry in the 2019 Caldecott Medal Contender series. The annual venture does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running. In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups at children’s book sites, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration. It is anticipated the series will include in the neighborhood of around 15 to 20 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender. Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end. The awards will be announced in January, hence the reviews will continue until the early part of that month.