THE WORLD IS ROUND is a story written to entertain children.
It is also a true story of history, and one that is seldom told.
Children enjoy this story and find it surprising and inspiring.
A child can grow with the book THE WORLD IS ROUND .
The book is written for my three sons, ages 1 year, 4 years and 7 years.
The book starts with colors and shapes, then
the first points of astronomy are presented.
For older children, a moral is given;
"Knowledge is a shield against fear".
Finally, there is a history lesson; ``Truth may be forgotten for a time''.
The large text is the text to be shown on the pages. The smaller text
describes what the pictures should show.
1: The grey Moon slowly orbits
2: Around the blue-green Earth
Page 1:Simple picture of the Moon, only a few stars in the background.
Page 2:Earth on opposite page as Moon, so that both are visible at once.
Earth should be a simple drawing, but show a fairly large Greek-style building
and tiny children.
3: A long time ago, a boy and his friends
sat watching the orange Sun set.
4: The others thought the world was flat
Page 3: Building and children are enlarged. Sun is visible,
with small 7/8 full Moon.
Page 4: Children surround flat chart of area. Small version of building sits
on the flat map. Buildings and trees have simple angular
geometric shapes similar to those on the chart.
5: But the boy saw that the Sun and Moon were round.
6: The boy taught children that the Earth, Moon and Sun
are balls in space.
Page 5: Boy points to Moon and they move toward round rock. An older
child builds a fire, as darkness falls. Moon is in waning half phase.
Child is playing with an orange ball in the background.
Page 6: The boy drapes chart over hemispherical rock. Holds apple in
orientation relative to orange ball, so that apple has
identical phase as the phase of the Moon.
The ball and fire are on same side of rock.
Copy of Greek building sits on chart on rock.
7: His friends could not believe the Earth moves around the Sun
and the Moon follows the Earth.
8: They were very angry. The boy gave them his drawings of the sky and left.
Page 7: Boy showing the relationship of Sun (orange ball), Moon
(grey rock) and Earth (greenish apple). The arrangement is
that for when the Moon is in new phase.
The orange ball should glow to illuminate the Moon and Earth in the
same manner as the surroundings.
Other children appear angry.
Page 8: Angry children send main character away. Flat orange ball lays on
the ground. They point the direction for the main character to depart.
Moon is a thin crescent. Chart is left on the ground, where one child is
looking at it.
9: His drawings were put away and forgotten.
10: The other children were afraid of the night and dreamed of
monsters beyond the edge of the sea.
Page 9: The child who was looking at chart is shown placing chart in a chest.
A more disordered version of the picture of the previous page.
A winter scene with no leaves on the trees and with longer grass growing
around the building where the chart is. New moon.
Page 10: View of hill from a distance (on water), showing night view
of fighting children. There are sea monsters in the water.
Moon is a thin waxing crescent.
11: A long time passed. All lived in fear, without understanding.
12: But a time came when new children sat under the sky
and tried to understand the movements of the Sun and Moon.
Page 11: Children still hiding and fighting. Building is destroyed, but
chest holding chart is visible. Some children are hiding
in the ruins. Morning is coming, Moon is 1/4 waxing.
Page 12: Golden sunrise and view of Moon with children setting on
small hill. Ruins in foreground, with chest visible.
13: They found the drawings the boy wrote long ago.
14: They understood and were not afraid of the night or the sea.
Page 13: Drawings from first boy found and examined by a
new group. Sun is out.
An older girl explains to other children holding chart.
Page 14: Large view of waxing Moon.
Some other small children sleeping near fire. Girl and another
group of children walking down toward water, while looking at chart.
15: These children explored the Earths seas on Moon-lit nights.
16: View of the Earth. [No text]
Page 15: In boat, girl is at helm of boat in gentle wind and full sail.
A child sleeping in front of boat. Moon is full.
Page 16: View of Earth similar to first pages. On Earth
the ruined building and ship sailing are visible. In the distance the
Sun is shown behind the Earth. The visible part of the
Earth is darker than the sun lit site. The Moon is in front of Earth.
(This is the correct arrangement for a full moon.)
Summary:
This is the true story of the Greeks who knew that the
world was round, but forgot it for 1000 years. When the truth
was re-discovered, people stopped fearing monsters at the edges of the world.
They began to enjoy exploration and discovery.
Copyright Glen Langston 1999, all rights reserved
Our
family
is visiting
ISAS,
in Sagamihara Japan
Are you an Illustrator and want to collaborate?
E-mail me at
glangsto@nrao.edu
Last updated on 99 March 8