The Stuff of Stars

The Stuff of Stars
By Marion Dane Bauer
Illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Candlewick Press, 2018. Picture book.

Carl Sagan once said "the nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff." This famous quote serves as the inspiration for this new poem about the foundation of the universe - in sweeping, powerful, dramatic text that looks in awe at the wonder of the cosmos. This same wonder is matched by wonder at the birth of a child, a new life "invisible as dreams/special as Love."

This wonderfully emotive book is illustrated with swells of marbled paper that depict cosmic matter (and all creations) as ebbs and flows of beautiful colors. If this book were just a coffee-table book filled with these illustrations, I would still find reason to share this book. But the text and illustrations match so perfectly in this book that it is hard to imagine one without the other. This is a perfect quite bedtime story for little ones wondering where they come from.

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