Hans Christian Andersen Award winner David Almond conjures the imaginative bond between a father and son as they pool their resources to defeat gravity and realize a dream.
Joe is starstruck, determinedto find his way up, up, up to the magical lights in the night sky. “In your dreams!” his pals say. But when Joe and his dad put their heads and hearts together, there’s no stopping them. Together they climb ladders, construct towers, and launch rockets in a tireless quest to reach the unreachable. Airy and playful, Gill Smith’s dynamic illustrations perfectly complement David Almond’s ebullient tale of sky-high courage—and the power of the imagination to pilot a dream—in a picture book adventure for stargazers and sidekicks of all ages.---from the publisher
32 pages 978-1536231250 Ages 4-8
Keywords: father/son, parents, adventure, dreams, fun, quest, courage, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old
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“And you can fly
High as a kite if you want to
Faster than light if you want to
Speeding through the universe
Thinking is the best way to travel
It's all a dream
Light passing by on the screen
And there's you and I on the beam
Speeding through the universe
Thinking is the best way to travel”
– The Moody Blues (1968)
A WAY TO THE STARS is an engaging and beautiful picture book that educators, caregivers, parents, and grandparents can employ in order to prompt and support dramatic play amongst preschoolers and older students.
In A WAY TO THE STARS, Joe’s father voices support for his son’s desire to “find a way to the stars.” They endeavor to have Joe climb a tree and then to climb a homemade cardboard box tower. Joe then blasts off in a homemade cardboard rocket (launched by Dad employing an impromptu lever and fulcrum seesaw-like “launcher”). When this fails,
“They worked harder.
They worked faster.
A trampoline.
A pair of wings.
A pogo stick.
A cannon!
Up! Up! Up! No! No! No! No!
‘What a mess!’
‘What a laugh!’
‘Give it up?’
‘In your dreams.”
The father and son eventually settle on constructing a backyard shed. On the inner walls, they paint moons, stars, and swirling galaxies.
The duo then falls asleep and, in their dreams, they wander, dance, and spin their way into the heavens.
There is great educational and psychological value in encouraging young children to create and act out their own dramatic solo or cooperative play scenarios. Adults should take an interest in facilitating this dramatic play. It makes sense that they provide physical spaces in which the kids can act out their imagined stories and scenarios. I can readily envisage early childcare educators setting up semi-enclosed spaces, and mounting paper or cardboard inner “walls” upon which children can employ paints, markers, or cutout images and glue to create a story setting.
Designing such mini-environments, thereby creating space for any number of imaginary explorations, can inspire kids to also devise puppet shows and skits. Each of these activities provides therapeutic opportunities for young people to react and respond to scary and/or perplexing situations they’ve encountered at home, in the community, or at school.
David Almond’s loving tale, accompanied by Gill Smith’s lustrous mixed media illustrations, will also make for an engaging naptime or bedtime read.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
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