The Stuff of Stars

A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner picture book by author Marion Dane Bauer and illustrator Ekua Holmes. The illustrations are thought provoking and potent while colors that contain an energy that stirs the reader to keep reading. Bauer’s story begins in the dark with just a floating speck without time or space. There are no beetles, trees, or sky only the speck. Then, the big bang creates the universe, which expands endlessly. The stars burn and some explode and spread star dust everywhere. The remnants of those stars become planets and the author reminds us there still are no bluebirds, snails, or giraffes in all this chaos. Then, out of all those uninhabitable planets there is a blue planet that spawns the dinosaurs and then humans. Again, a speck appears, and we are suddenly born into a world that was once the stuff of stars. Students may like the Newbery Honor book by Marion D. Bauer On My Honor, or for children who enjoy Ekua Holmes’ illustrations may enjoy Black is a Rainbow Color written by Angela Joy.

Science teachers can use this as a pre-reading activity before a lesson on aspects of the universe like the big bank, planets, or stars.

Bauer, M. D. (2018). The Stuff of Stars. (E. Holmes, Illust.) Candlewick Press.