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Reading List More from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera
To continue my obscure "space fiction" I have Jimmy and the Spaceship to share with you. This was a very small "pocket book" of a comic strip. There were other "Jimmy and the...." books but I really enjoyed reading this one. It reads like the typical space story but has its own "shock" ending. I hope you like this obscure bit of early fiction about a trip to the moon. Main, Neville. Jimmy and The Spaceship. London: Brockhampton Press. (30 p.) 1949.
My next 4 posts are celebrating children's illustrated fiction about going to the Moon. Even though I have been collecting these children's book for over 30 years it still is very exciting to find one that you never knew existed. Jack Coggins was an amazing space artist in the 1950s. His two early children's books that were especially memorable were Rockets, Jets, Guided Missiles, and Space Ships (1951) and By Spaceship to the Moon (1952). I have multiple copies of these in English, French and German. So I was very excited to find a 1960 reprint of his 1953 book Merry Mouse and His Trip to the Moon. It was written by his wife Alma Coggins. This is a fictional book with many of the same style of space painting about a mouse who goes to the Moon to find green cheese. I have chosen to reproduce almost he whole book since your chance of finding a copy are pretty small. I hope you enjoy this lost space art treasure. Coggins, Alma. Illustrated by Coggins, Jack. Merry Mouse and His Trip to the Moon. (2nd edition) (Jolly Books.) London: L. Miller & Co. (20 p.) 1960. (reprint of 1953 1st edition). Above is the cover and below an illustration from Rockets,Jets...1951 Here is the cover to By Space Ship to the Moon 1952
Happy Moon Day! This is the last of this batch of My Weekly Readers. I hope you haven't gotten too tired of this summer break. In this issue we celebrate the USA in Space. This March 12th issue celebrates John Glenn's success and looking forward to the next set of missions getting ready for a visit to The Moon. This issue also celebrates the creation of the Everglades National Park in 1934 and its success in saving bald eagles.
Happy 4th of July! Here is your My Weekly Reader for "Happy 4th of February, 1962."
More in history
Hey folks, Fireside this week! As I noted a couple of weeks ago, things are probably going to get more than a little fireside-y over the next few weeks, simply because of the start of the semester – and a semester in which I am undertaking a set of entire new preps (that is, teaching … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 27, 2025 (On Defending History) →
Can we know anything for certain? That’s the question behind David Hume’s Problem of Induction. Hume undermines the basis for using past experience to predict what will happen in the future, calling into question not only science and knowledge but also our everyday beliefs. If we can’t logically justify our confidence that the sun […]
Known all over the world as the king with six wives, Henry VIII was the second Tudor monarch in England. His reign left indelible imprints on British history. Often portrayed in popular media as a mercurial, irascible figure who would turn on those around him in a flash, Henry VIII did have certain consistent […]
