“A star is how you know it’s almost night. / As soon as you see one, there’s another, and another. / And the dark that comes doesn’t feel so dark.” From opening pages that show the first evening star appearing in a dusky blue sky to the final image of a dark night sky strewn with an array of stars, Mary Lin Ray’s lyrical words and Marla Frazee’s luminous illustrations describe the stars all around us. A star cut from shiny paper and pinned to shirt designates a sheriff, or can convert a stick to a wand ideal for wish-making. There are days when you can feel “shiny as a star,” and days when the opposite is true. And stars can be found in many places: in the white flowers of strawberry plants before they bear fruit, in falling snowflakes, and as dandelion seeds blown into the air. Illustrations show a diverse cast of children and families finding the stars in their world in a child-centered picture book that ends with them gathered as a group watching nighttime stars appear in the sky above. These are temporarily obscured by the bloom of firework stars before reappearing as they always do, “every night. Everywhere.” (Ages 2–6)

A star is how you know it’s almost night.
As soon as you see one, there’s another, and another.
And the dark that comes doesn’t feel so dark.
What if you could have a star?

From acclaimed author Mary Lyn Ray and two-time Caldecott Honor winner Marla Frazee comes this tender, evocative—and profound—exploration of stars both near and far.