Hello, Star

by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic details the story of a young girl who falls in love with science and space. When the young girl learns that a dimming light in the sky is coming from a dying star, she promises to keep it company until the light goes out. She devotes her life to getting closer and closer to the star, eventually becoming an astronaut. With other-worldly illustrations from the unparalleled Vashti Harrison(!), Hello, Star is an awesomely inspirational picture book.

Stunningly illustrated by #1 New York Times bestselling artist Vashti Harrison, Hello, Star (written by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic) is an inspiring story about a love of science and the importance of empathy.
  When a young girl learns that a bright light in the sky is coming from a dying star, she promises to keep it company until the light goes out. Every night the girl reassures her friend that she is still there.

As the years pass, the girl learns everything she can about planets, space, and the universe, inspired by her dimming friend—until she realizes she needs to do something more.

This touching tribute to stars, space, and science celebrates how a small act of compassion can flourish into a life full of meaning and wonder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316451758
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	121,587
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic is the author of The End of Something Wonderful: A Practical Guide to a Backyard Funeral and the middle-grade novel The League of Picky Eaters. She has been a contributor to the New York Times Motherlode blog, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, CNN's Eatocracy, The Atlantic Wire, and more. Stephanie lives in the Bay Area, and she invites you to visit her at stephanielucianovic.com or on Instagram and Twitter @grubreport.

Vashti Harrison is the New York Times bestselling creator of Big, which was awarded the 2024 Caldecott Medal, a Coretta Scott King Book Award Author Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor, in addition to being a National Book Award finalist. Vashti is also the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of Little Leaders, Little Dreamers, and Little Legends, and the illustrator of Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe (for which she received a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor), Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love, Andrea Beaty's I Love You Like Yellow, and Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hello, Star, among others. A two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, Vashti lives in Brooklyn, New York, and invites you to visit her online @vashtiharrison or at vashtiharrison.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/11/2021

A sighting of a supernova in early childhood launches a Black girl into an enduring fascination with stars and space—with particular compassion for the one she first saw—in this well-paced picture book. Lucianovic emphasizes how the child’s wonder and concern evolve into a career path, as she speaks to the star throughout primary school, college, and eventually as an astronaut. Descriptive prose focuses on lyricism over transmitting information: “It could become a neutron star, made of material so heavy that a teaspoon of its shimmering, blazing star stuff would weigh as much as a mountain.” Harrison’s characteristically absorbing illustrations, rendered in colored pencil and digitally, make vivid use of chiaroscuro, offering mesmerizing, photorealistic spreads of skies and space in this narrative ideal for young astrophiles. Back matter features an author’s note. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This book celebrates a child’s curiosity and compassion.... Share with your favorite future astronauts."—Kirkus Reviews

"Will illuminate a path for future curious children."—Booklist

"Harrison’s characteristically absorbing illustrations, rendered in colored pencil and digitally, make vivid use of chiaroscuro, offering mesmerizing, photorealistic spreads of skies and space in this narrative ideal for young astrophiles."—Publishers Weekly

Sublime illustrations by Vashti Harrison perfectly capture the wonder of a dying supernova that propels a determined girl's astronaut dreams.—Lacey Vorrasi-Banis, Entertainment Weekly

Most picture books plant themselves squarely in the realm of childhood, never bringing their main characters along into adulthood. This book dares to make a change. [...] a reminder of how short our lives are compared to the life, and subsequent death, of the stars. A picture book that dares to make you think. —Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

"This beautiful STEM-themed picture book is about a young Black girl who spots a burning star in the night sky. Her mother explains the star is dying, and the girl becomes fascinated with space — particularly with the burning star, who she speaks to at night, determined to let the star know that it won’t die alone."—Book Riot, Best Books of 2021

“Sublime illustrations by Vashti Harrison perfectly capture the wonder of a dying supernova that propels a determined girl’s astronaut dreams.”—Entertainment Weekly

"[2022] Divisional and Regional winner for California/Hawaii."—SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards

From the Publisher

2021-07-27
A girl sees a brightly burning star in the night sky and is curious, but she becomes concerned when she learns that the star is dying.

Enamored by a bright shining star she learns is a supernova, the little Black girl sets out to learn everything about it she can. She asks questions about stars in school and reads books about stars. Every night she whispers to her star so that it knows it’s not alone. As time passes, she learns that her star is a blue giant, a rare sight from Earth. As a young woman, she goes to college to study stars and space, convinced that she will find a way to her star. And so she does. All grown up, the woman becomes an astronaut and authority on stars and space. She arrives in space just in time to witness her star fade to darkness and then burst into more bright, shining stars. Based on a conversation the author had with her son, this book celebrates a child’s curiosity and compassion. Though not based entirely on scientific facts, this book will stand up as an introduction to space and stars for very young readers. Harrison’s dreamy, blue-toned illustrations are a hit; front and rear endpaper illustrations artfully attest to the protagonist’s lifelong interest in space. The author’s note discusses the book’s inspiration. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Share with your favorite future astronauts. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews