Year Published: 2009
Written by: Geoffrey Norman
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis
Description
A little girl and her soldier father find a way to be close even when he’s away at war.
Amanda is scared of the dark. But her dad can fix that. He shows Amanda all the wonderful things that live in the dark, like fireflies, crickets, and stars. And when her father has to go away, he even puts glowing paper stars on Amanda’s bedroom ceiling, so she can look at their special star while he?s away and know he’s on the other side of the world looking at it too, and thinking of her.
Stars Above Us is an affecting, beautifully illustrated narrative tailor-made for children who’ve ever lived without a parent.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3—Amanda is afraid of the dark, so her father takes her outside one night to look up at the stars. Still, her room is dark and scary, so Daddy brings home paper and paint to make stars that glow in the dark and pastes them on her ceiling. When he goes away, he tells her that he will be able to see the North Star just as she can. He gives her a puppy called Bear, another name for the Big Dipper. Only when he calls from his military post on the other side of the world do readers understand that Amanda’s fear of the dark masks a deeper fear for his safety. An unspecified length of time passes, Bear grows, and the family is reunited at last at the airport. Realistic watercolor illustrations, many of them dark and still, are strangely comforting. This quiet, hopeful book speaks especially to the children of military personnel serving abroad, though it will resonate with any child separated from a parent.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN END
Kirkus
“This useful volume reassuringly examines the effect of military deployment on families.”
School Library Journal
This quiet, hopeful book speaks especially to the children of military personnel serving abroad, though it will resonate with any child separated from a parent.”
