Stardust Child (Paperback)
Why? What? Where? How?
Children are full of questions as their minds are busy figuring out the intricacies and immensities of themselves and their universe. Stardust Child was inspired by the words of renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
"We are biologically connected to everything in the world. We are all, not figuratively, but literally, made of stardust."
The story of Stardust Child celebrates that we all share the same essence despite limiting labels and cultural differences. Picture by picture, the story instills the concept of our oneness, our ecological interdependence, and the unique light that each of us brings to the world.
Keep asking questions
Joann Rose Leonard was theatre-trained at Northwestern University, worked as an actress in New York, and studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau. Founder and director of MetaStages, the youth theatre program at Penn State University, she now lives in Watsonville. She is also the author of The Soup Has Many Eyes: From Shtetl to Chicago; One Family's Journey Through History (Bantam), The Healer of Fox Hollow, a story where loss and survival challenges what everyone holds true, and All the World's a Stage Volumes I, II & III (Samuel French), multicultural folk plays.
Stardust Child" is a quietly revolutionary children's book based upon the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson: "We are biologically connected to everything in the world. We are all, not figuratively, but literally, made of stardust." Modeling interconnectedness, the narrative of "Stardust Child" follows the poetic form of "The House That Jack Built," substituting such narrative clues as follows: "This is the stardust that made the atoms of the farmer who milks the cow that makes the milk that Stardust Child drinks." The story expands exponentially in the stardusted middle: "These are the stars that shine in the night sky over the sea where the clouds form to water the grass the cow eats to make the milk that Stardust Child drinks." Stunning, galactic scenes of starburst colors show the interconnectedness of all life in the universe against a background of oceans, stars, moon, and sun, lighting up all the skies. Gradually the bright images of rainbow colored stardust become integrated into the black outlined forms of the cow, the farmer, and the Stardust Child.
-- Midwest Book Review
"Using a nursery rhyme narrative, Stardust Child draws connecting lines, in both words and illustrations, to teach that all things in the world are interlinked. With equal doses of humor and whimsy, the cadence of the Leonard’s is infectious. Schroder’s illustrations are captivating. The world and its people are inter-connected by the atoms that made us all -- a science lesson and a humanitarian one, in one package."
-- Topsy N. Smalley, Librarian, Cabrillo College
"I love this book! And really wish there were more science-inspired children's books on the market. This charming, wonderfully illustrated book expresses a deep, profound fact of nature. And does so in a way that inspires awe and reflection in minds of all ages."
-- Nate Brown, Professor of Mathematics, Penn State University
-- Midwest Book Review
"Using a nursery rhyme narrative, Stardust Child draws connecting lines, in both words and illustrations, to teach that all things in the world are interlinked. With equal doses of humor and whimsy, the cadence of the Leonard’s is infectious. Schroder’s illustrations are captivating. The world and its people are inter-connected by the atoms that made us all -- a science lesson and a humanitarian one, in one package."
-- Topsy N. Smalley, Librarian, Cabrillo College
"I love this book! And really wish there were more science-inspired children's books on the market. This charming, wonderfully illustrated book expresses a deep, profound fact of nature. And does so in a way that inspires awe and reflection in minds of all ages."
-- Nate Brown, Professor of Mathematics, Penn State University