Shine!

February 13, 2017
Hoshi, a starfish, longs to be in the sky like the twinkling stars above, not stuck in the water: “Up there, where I would shine! Oh, poor little me... a star stuck in the sea.” Things are already perfect where Hoshi is now, McDonnell (Tek) makes clear with a wink: “ ‘I should be floating among the colorful planets,’ Hoshi thought, as she floated among the colorful coral. ‘Imagine all the unique and wonderful friends you could meet up there!’ she told her unique and wonderful neighbors.” Unable to ascend, Hoshi dives into deep water, where an anglerfish gives her the wisdom she needs: “Happiness, my dear, is always found right... here,” she says, pointing to her heart. Though there’s not much interaction between text and illustration, Stoop’s (Sing with Me!) mixed-media artwork adds richness and depth. The many sea creatures, painted on wood grain, are identifiable—scarlet coral, a green crab—and the scenes gain beauty from graded washes of sky and water. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

February 1, 2017
A sea creature yearns to live in the sky.Hoshi is a red starfish with little black eyes and white circles on her cheeks. Every night on the beach, she gazes longingly upward, believing that only as a celestial star can she "shine." As the sun rises and the tide pulls her back into the water, the text is amusingly explicit about what Hoshi's environment isn't actually missing: " 'I should be floating among the colorful planets,' Hoshi [thinks], as she float[s] among the colorful coral"; " 'Up there, there are exciting and endless possibilities,' she explain[s] to the exciting, endless schools of minnows." McDonnell's two-part message--that Hoshi's environment has everything she longs for, and that she can "shine" and be happy simply by deciding to, as an anglerfish explains--is hardly original, and Hoshi's self-pity ("poor little me...a star stuck in the sea") feels overdone at her expense. However, the artwork--acrylic, pencil, pastel, and ink on plywood--has some lovely aspects. The stars in the sky seem truly luminescent; the "exciting, endless" school of yellow minnows glides alluringly through green water; and, most inventively, Stoop uses the natural wood grain of her plywood base as beach, undersea sand patterns, and ocean currents. There's no place like home, even underwater, though the eventual happiness here seems more dictated than organic. (Picture book. 2-5)

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April 1, 2017
PreS-Gr 1-Little Hoshi is a sea star who has her sights set on the sparkling sky. She wishes she were -up there, where all is fine. Up there, where I would shine!- Many listeners will relate to McDonnell's self-pitying protagonist, who thinks everything would be perfect, if only. The narrative is conveyed primarily in prose; rhymes are used twice to focus attention on the central struggle. As in Stoop's Red Knit Cap Girl, the use of a plywood canvas-to which acrylic, pencil, pastel, and ink have been applied and digitally manipulated-cleverly allows the grain of the wood to become the irregular lines of the ocean current or the heat radiating from the sun. The artist employs pattern, color, and scale to create surprises as the pages turn when Hoshi is imagining the wonders in the heavens (while missing the school of minnows, the vibrant coral, and the enormous whale passing by). The sea star's red orange coloring contrasts with the gray ocean depths, where she has retreated in despair. A chance encounter with an anglerfish, whose luminescence Little Hoshi envies, helps her learn the secret of shining: being happy with one's situation, with one's self. As she rises back to the water's surface, her heart glows. VERDICT A lovely but somewhat purposeful title to share one-on-one or with a small group. Fans of McDonnell and Stoop will appreciate the pleasing way the medicine goes down.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

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