THE NIGHT THE STARS WENT MISSING

A boy brings back the stars by helping to save Earth in Gonzalez’s illustrated fantasy tale.

Winston’s grandmother Estrella once told him that stars were made of promises, and when the stars vanish, he gets worried. He uses a telescope in the lighthouse where he lives to peer deep into space, but only sees the moon, which he asks for help. The moon shows him a path into the sky on a ladder made of stardust. The world above the clouds is magical, and when Winston rescues a fallen star, it promises to introduce him to the other, hidden stars, who fear that humans will hurt them the way they’ve harmed their own planet. Indeed, when Winston arrives at the stars’ hidden village, they’re afraid of him. He pledges that he’ll do everything he can to save his planet, and assures the stars that there are others like him who will do the same. He offers to give them a necklace from his grandmother—the one thing he has left to remember her by—because it’s his most important possession: “Consider it my promise to you all,” he says. The stars accept, and soon Winston makes good on his pledge by planting trees and organizing garbage cleanups. Gonzalez’s straightforward text guides readers through Krapivina’s riotous, full-color cartoon illustrations of Winston’s magical journey. The bright hues zing and zip across the pages with whirls of light and shadow. Gonzalez uses just the right amount of text to allow the illustrations to take over storytelling duties occasionally, resulting in a balanced blend of words and art. The notion that the missing stars are related to the Earth’s pollution—which, of course, makes stars harder to see—feels right on the nose. Although the tale seems to place the burden of caring for the planet on individuals—there’s no talk of making larger structural changes in society—Winston’s actions are likely to empower young readers to do their part to make the world a brighter place.

A whimsical but well-grounded environmentalist tale.