Inspired by her mother and the sight of a bright star, the girl begins to learn about astronomy. All through school she studies, trains, and reaches ever higher, promising to be with her star as it shines on brightly, a supernova coming to the end of its life cycle. Finally, as an astronaut, she reaches the moon and there she sees her star up close, saying hello to her faithful friend. On the penultimate spread, the star bursts into an explosion of light, blue waves of stardust radiating out, and starting a new generation of stars - and on the final page inspiring a new girl to dream of stars.
The final spread is wordless, but contains a detailed author’s note about the life cycle of stars and the inspiration behind the book. It also explains that the ending of the story is completely fiction; the girl could not actually have seen her star explode into new life from the moon.
On the one hand, it’s a beautiful, inspiring story with gorgeous artwork. On the other hand, it really bothers me that the ending, however powerful, is not scientifically accurate, especially considering the emphasis on science, study, and learning throughout the story.
Verdict: This is definitely a lovely book that many classrooms and families will enjoy for its message of working hard towards a goal. However, the ending makes me reluctant to purchase it; I am personally frustrated by the blurring of lines in many informational picture books and an outright inaccuracy like this is a little more than I can handle. I think ultimately it will depend on your library audience and needs; I will probably stick with picture book biographies of female astronomers and astrophysicists and accurate titles.
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