I’m looking for a vaguely remembered children’s book. It’s a picture book. I can’t reconstruct the whole plot but it had the following elements:
– EITHER a martian, extra-terrestrial or man-in-the-moon visiting earth, OR a boy that wants to fly to space. The former is more likely.
– This protagonist is reminded of his planet or the moon or the sun by seeing a balloon, and maybe also other round objects throughout the book.
– There is definitely a scene, towards the end of the book, where the protagonist walks back to his space vessel in the evening sun or moon.
– I remember the book had a melancholic feel. Maybe the protagonist is homesick or something. It was NOT a spectacular book on space travel. The martian is not scary, but cute and a little sad.
– It must predate 1983, possibly a book from much earlier (60s?) that my mother purchased at a library that got rid of old books.
Maybe Matthew Looney’s Voyage to the Earth? It doesn’t really hit the picture book part, more an early chapter book with some pictures. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2627559-matthew-looney-s-voyage-to-the-earth
Is it Crockett Johnson’s Harold’s Trip to the Sky?
Maybe The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree by Louis Slodbodkin?
Maybe Squaps the moonling?
Not sure, but could it be The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron?