Explorers on the Moon (Adventures of Tintin Series) »

The first manned rocked, bound for the Moon, has just launched from the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre in Syldavia. On board are Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, and the engineer Frank Wolff. At the Centre, intense efforts are being made to establish radio contact with the rocket's passengers out in space. Tintin and his friends have fainted from the acceleration on launching. Their recovery is anxiously awaited. The wireless masts stand sentinel in the night sky, but they receive no message...

Publishers Weekly

It was bound to happen. Having journeyed everywhere from America to the Congo to Tibet, Tintin blasts into outer space. Together with his faithful pooch, Snowy, the spunky boy reporter has joined an expedition ``based at the Sprodj Atomic Center, high in the Zmyhlpathian Mountains, in the kingdom of Syldavia.'' Following a perfect lift-off, the myriad misadventures begin, as the ubiquitous ``certified detectives,'' Thomson and Thompson, are discovered on board--inadvertent stowaways who threaten to monopolize the ship's precious oxygen supply. All's well that lands well, however, as Tintin and his colleagues return safely. Except for two diverting spreads, the fairly pedestrian paper engineering adds little zip; the palette, too, seems somewhat attenuated for a tale of astronomical derring-do. Though the narrative is overlong for the pop-up book set, this disparity will probably not deter the intrepid voyager's many fans. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)