Liftoff!

How the Apollo Moon Missions

Made Alma Thomas's Art Soar

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Millbrook Press

(Lerner Publishing)

(pub. 11.4.2025)

32 pages

Ages 6-10

Author and Illustrator: Nina Crews

Character: Alma Thomas

Overview:

" In 1969, people around the world watched as the Apollo 10 astronauts sent the first-ever live color television broadcasts from space. Abstract painter Alma Thomas was among those watching, and afterward, she began a series of bright, bold pieces inspired by the Moon missions and the marvels of space exploration.

A dual narrative weaves together key moments from the Apollo 10 mission with Alma’s process creating Snoopy Sees a Sunrise.

Tantalizing taste:

"The colors pop and glow. They shimmy, shake, and dance across the canvas. Slowly, steadily, the idea that Alma had in her mind takes shape. She's flying with Snoopy in an ebony-black sky.

Is that planet Earth in the distance?

Eight days after liftoff, the Apollo 10 command module returned to Earth, splashing down safely in the deepest blue sea. Mission accomplished."

And something more: Nina Crews dedicated the book "to the memory of my father-in-law - Dr. Albert C. Antoine, a NASA chemist who developed rocket fuels for spacecraft - ad my mother-in-law - Mrs. June Sallee Antoine, an educator and arts advocate."

The More About the Apollo Missions explains that "Reaching the Moon was an inspiring goal. The space program also created huge opportunities for many Americans because this enormous and complicated task involved hundreds of thousands of people... The space program got started during a time of progress for the Civil Rights Movement... Hiring a diverse group of workers at NASA helped pave the way for integrating other workplaces across the country."

And I so appreciate that our picture book biography, Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas illustrated by Loveis Wise (HarperCollins) is included in the Suggested Further Reading section.