Child of the Universe

by Ray Jayawardhana, Raul Colón (Illustrator)

Overview

"A lyrical meditation on the preciousness of one child and the vastness of the universe ... [sharing] the immensity of a parent's love along with the message that we are all connected to the broader cosmos in important and intimate ways"--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524717544
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, Ray Jayawardhana investigates the origins and diversity of planetary systems and the prospects for life in the universe, using many of the world's largest telescopes. He is a prolific researcher with more than 125 scientific papers to his credit, whose discoveries have garnered widespread attention. Child of the Universe is Ray's picture-book debut. Find out more at drrayjay.net or on Twitter at @DrRayJay.

Raul Colón has illustrated several highly acclaimed picture books, including Draw!, the New York Times bestselling Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt; Susanna Reich's José! Born to Dance, and Jill Biden's Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops. Mr. Colón lived in Puerto Rico as a young boy and now resides in New City, New York, with his family.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2019-12-22
A child "made up of stars" finds their place in the universe.

"The universe conspired to make you," a father tells his child as they gaze out at the moon one night from the child's bed. As the father goes on to wax poetic about his love, the art takes readers on an intergalactic journey. Nebulae, galaxies, planets, and stars populate breathtaking, high-contrast double-page spreads that feature the curly-haired, brown-skinned child out in the universe. One spread depicts a silhouette of the child while the text reads, "The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, / are made up of stars that lived long ago." Another, wordless spread depicts the child at the center of a giant atom. Astrophysicist Jayawardhana's picture-book debut effectively and eloquently affirms the importance of a single life amid the vastness of the universe—a small lesson under the blanket of parental love. Though framed by the child's first-person narration, the story is primarily driven by the father's monologue. Colón's art, created in his signature scratched-colored pencil technique, revels in the details. The soft, cool tones of the Earth scenes provide a wow of a page turn as the colors explode with warmth in subsequent spreads. Gold foil stars speckle the cover. There's hardly room—or need—for white space in a book this grand and glorious.

Out of this world. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

There's hardly room—or need—for white space in a book this grand and glorious. Out of this world.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A magnificent journey through the cosmos.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This lovely picture book can spark interest in scientific exploration, create awareness of our connection to the cosmos, and encourage dreamers.” —School Library Journal, starred review

"The simplicity of the text is brilliantly upheld by Colón’s spectacular colored-pencil illustrations. The wordless spreads are particularly compelling for their swaths and curlicues of rich colors depicting cosmic wonders such as solar flares, atomic structures, and ocean waves." —Booklist

From the Publisher