The Stuff of Stars

Starred review from September 1, 2018

K-Gr 4-Poetic language and dazzling illustrations link the big bang to a child's birth in this striking picture book. Starting "in the deep, deep dark" where "a speck floated, invisible as thought, weighty as God," lyrical language describes the big bang ("in a trillionth of a second...our universe was born)," then moves to the creation of stars, planets, and life. Hand-marbled paper and collage images brilliantly capture the movement and mystery of the words. Opening spreads of black and purple swirls dramatically shift to blasts of shapes and colors as the universe evolves. Reminders of what was not yet created are interspersed: ."..no oceans, no mountains, no hippopotami," while some of the specific life forms mentioned can be spotted within the shapes and lines of the collages. The dramatic conclusion features the birth of the listener, when "another speck floated, invisible as dreams, special as Love." That speck is depicted as a white dot against black, visually mirroring the speck that started it all on the first page, but this time it's placed within a long strip, suggesting a birth canal. The narrative ties neatly back to the evolution described earlier: "Your hair once the carbon in a leaf." It also connects the child to other life forms: "You and the velvet moss, the caterpillars, the lions." The triumphant final spread shows parent and child in silhouette, gazing at the vivid swoops of line and color that suggest planets, stars, and galaxies. VERDICT An inspiring match of writing and art. Perfect for one-on-one sharing.-Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville Public Library, OR

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
The stories of the births of the universe, the planet Earth, and a human child are told in this picture book.Bauer begins with cosmic nothing: "In the dark / in the deep, deep dark / a speck floated / invisible as thought / weighty as God." Her powerful words build the story of the creation of the universe, presenting the science in poetic free verse. First, the narrative tells of the creation of stars by the Big Bang, then the explosions of some of those stars, from which dust becomes the matter that coalesces into planets, then the creation of life on Earth: a "lucky planet...neither too far / nor too near...its yellow star...the Sun." Holmes' digitally assembled hand-marbled paper-collage illustrations perfectly pair with the text--in fact the words and illustrations become an inseparable whole, as together they both delineate and suggest--the former telling the story and the latter, with their swirling colors suggestive of vast cosmos, contributing the atmosphere. It's a stunning achievement to present to readers the factual events that created the birth of the universe, the planet Earth, and life on Earth with such an expressive, powerful creativity of words paired with illustrations so evocative of the awe and magic of the cosmos. But then the story goes one brilliant step further and gives the birth of a child the same beginning, the same sense of magic, the same miracle.Wow. (Picture book. 3-8)

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Starred review from August 1, 2018
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Carl Sagan's famous quote, We are made of star stuff, is brought to life in a captivating picture book that will be cherished by people of all ages. Mesmerizing illustrations are a perfect fit for this story, which tells of the beginning of our universe and of life itself, starting with a small floating speck that suddenly explodes: In a trillionth of a second . . . our universe was born. All the colors of the rainbow appear in Holmes' (Out of Wonder, 2017) glorious creations, which use hand-marbled paper and collage, at times resembling batik and sometimes oil on water with swirls of unmixed colors. Placed over some illustrations are collage figures of humans, fossils, and animals. In one particularly lovely moment, the beginning of life in the womb subtly echoes the beginning of the universe: Then one day . . . in the dark, in the dark, in the deep deep dark, another speck floated, invisible as dreams, special as Love. Bauer's (Winter Dance?, 2017) lyrical free-verse love song to Earth, to the listener, and to all creatures is accessible to everyone living on one lucky planet, a fragile blue ball we call Earth. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 16, 2018
In spare, supple verse, Newbery Honor author Bauer (Winter Dance) tells a big story—that of everything there is, how it all came to be, and how the matter that makes up the universe is the same as the matter that makes “All of us/ the stuff of stars.” The universe starts with a single speck, “invisible as thought,/ weighty as God,” before it explodes, forming stars and planets. But the planet we live on is a long way off yet, the narrator tells a beloved child: “no oceans,/ no mountains,/ no hippopotami.” Finally, Earth’s magical combination of conditions lets it turn “that starry stuff/ into mitochondria,/ jellyfish,/ spiders,” and, eventually, another speck grows into something else special: “YOU burst into the world.” How to make these abstract ideas visible? In a brilliant stroke of visual imagination, Caldecott Honor artist Holmes (Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets) uses the swirls and waves of marbled paper to represent the ebb and flow of cosmic matter. Her spreads appear to move and shift on a grand scale, while Bauer suggests that, just possibly, the power of creation and the power of love are not so different. Ages 4–8.

January 1, 2019
From darkness, we experience the Big Bang, the birth of the universe, and the emergence of life on Earth. Holmes breathes life and depth into Bauer's ambitious poem with marbled paper and collage, in which representational shapes subtly emerge from the mottled background. By book's end, we see an adult and child together: "You, / and me / loving you. / All of us / the stuff of stars."

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
From darkness, we experience the Big Bang, the birth of the universe, and the emergence of life on Earth. Holmes, known for her striking collage art (Voice of Freedom, rev. 9/15; Out of Wonder, rev. 5/17) breathes life and depth into Bauer's ambitious poem, with a new look: marbled paper. On some spreads, the marbling serves as a semi-abstract representation, while on others it is combined with Holmes's familiar collages, with representational shapes subtly emerging from the mottled background. We proceed to dinosaurs, which then give way to other animals and to humans. Bauer's switch to direct address ( Waiting / waiting? / Until at last, / YOU burst into the world ) accompanies the realization that a small white speck seen in earlier illustrations is, in fact, the child listener. By book's end, we see an adult and child together: You, / and me / loving you. / All of us / the stuff of stars. Will younger children understand the scale of this text? More likely, they will just take it on faith and be mesmerized by the remarkable art by Holmes, one of the most thoughtful interpreters of poetry working in children's books today. lolly Robinson

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)