Book Descriptions
for Bright Star by Yuyi Morales
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A fawn opens its newborn eyes to its mother. “You are alive! You are a bright star inside our hearts.” The fawn’s mother teaches it how to move through a desert landscape full of beauty and danger both. When the fawn is separated from its mother by a wall, overwhelmed and afraid, it curls up, vulnerable and alone. With a turn of the page, the fawn has disappeared and a brown-skinned girl with a deer on her shirt appears in its place, her pose and expression echoing those of the fawn. In this extraordinary moment, a story about the need for safety and security, and above all love for our children, becomes one that is also about migration, immigration, and borders. Empathy and this truth are both transcendent: “You are a bright star inside our hearts.” Morales expands on the subject and setting in an eloquent author’s note. “I made this book knowing that children everywhere, but especially migrant children at the borderlands, have experienced things they should never have to endure … I made this book because I want you to know that no matter where you are, wherever you’ve come from, or where you are going, you should always be honored, respected, cared for, and loved.” Exquisite mixed-media illustrations infused with golden light accompany a spare, eloquent text in English with Spanish integrated throughout. (Ages 3-8)
CCBC Choices 2022. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book
Winner of the Tomás Rivera Mexican Children’s Book Award
Inspiring, reassuring, and beautifully illustrated, this new story from the creator of the New York Times bestseller Dreamers is the perfect gift for every child.
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
With the combination of powerful, spare language and sumptuous, complex imagery characteristic of her work, Yuyi Morales weaves the tale of a fawn making her way through a landscape that is dangerous, beautiful—and full of potential. A gentle voice urges her onward, to face her fears and challenge the obstacles that seek to hold her back.
Child, you are awake!
You are alive!
You are a bright star,
Inside our hearts.
With a voice full of calm, contemplative wisdom, readers are invited to listen and observe, to accept themselves—and to dare to shout!
In a world full of uncertainty, Bright Star seeks to offer reassurance and courage. Yuyi Morales' first book since her New York Times bestseller Dreamers explores the borderlands—the plants, animals, and insects that make their home in the desert, and the people who live and travel through this unique and beautiful part of the world.
Created with a combination of techniques including hand-embroidered lettering, painting, sketching, digital paintings with textures from photographs of the Sonoran Desert, this stunning book is full of beauty—from the handwoven blanket of the endpapers through the last inspiring spread of young families facing their future with determination and hope.
A Spanish language edition, Lucero, is also available.
A People Magazine Best Kids Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year
An NPR 'Book We Love!'
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
A CCBC Choice
A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year
An Evanston Public Library Great Books for Kids pick!
Winner of the Tomás Rivera Mexican Children’s Book Award
Inspiring, reassuring, and beautifully illustrated, this new story from the creator of the New York Times bestseller Dreamers is the perfect gift for every child.
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
With the combination of powerful, spare language and sumptuous, complex imagery characteristic of her work, Yuyi Morales weaves the tale of a fawn making her way through a landscape that is dangerous, beautiful—and full of potential. A gentle voice urges her onward, to face her fears and challenge the obstacles that seek to hold her back.
Child, you are awake!
You are alive!
You are a bright star,
Inside our hearts.
With a voice full of calm, contemplative wisdom, readers are invited to listen and observe, to accept themselves—and to dare to shout!
In a world full of uncertainty, Bright Star seeks to offer reassurance and courage. Yuyi Morales' first book since her New York Times bestseller Dreamers explores the borderlands—the plants, animals, and insects that make their home in the desert, and the people who live and travel through this unique and beautiful part of the world.
Created with a combination of techniques including hand-embroidered lettering, painting, sketching, digital paintings with textures from photographs of the Sonoran Desert, this stunning book is full of beauty—from the handwoven blanket of the endpapers through the last inspiring spread of young families facing their future with determination and hope.
A Spanish language edition, Lucero, is also available.
A People Magazine Best Kids Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year
An NPR 'Book We Love!'
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
A CCBC Choice
A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year
An Evanston Public Library Great Books for Kids pick!
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
