Moon Man (novel) facts for kids

Moon Man (Der Mondmann in German, Jean de Lune, in French ) is a novel written and illustrated by the French author Tomi Ungerer published in 1966.

Plot

Moon Man is in the Moon in space. A comet flies by and brings him down to Earth. People race to the site and Moon Man ends up going to prison because people think he's different. He is thrown into a cell and put in a ball and chain. He enters the third quarter of the phase of the moon, shrinking to a small size and so can leave via the window. The general comes to verify that the jail cell is empty.

Moon Man grows back to his full size and comes upon a garden party, with people in costumes dancing. A grumpy neighbour complains about the music to the police, and Moon hides in the forest. He comes upon a hidden castle, where he finds scientist Doktor Bunsen van der Dunkel, who welcomes the Moon Man to his laboratory and shows him his space rocket, which Moon Man can use to go back home. Bunsen van der Dunkel takes Moon Man to the rocket and waits for him to shrink again to his third phase. Moon Man squeezes into the rocket and blasts off back to the moon. He realised that people on Earth were not as welcoming as he thought they’d be and he stays nestled up in the sky, inside the silvery moon, and never returns to earth.

Film adaptation

In 2012 the novel was adapted into an animated film by Stephan Schesch and Sarah Clara Weber. Tomi Ungerer acted as the narrator.