WHEN MOLLY ATE THE STARS

In this allegory about interconnectedness, a girl with a literal taste for stars inadvertently robs others of their light.

On a clear winter night, ginger-haired Molly reaches up to pluck a star from the sky—and finds it delicious. She crunches and gobbles until she feels “warm and bright, inside and out.” Commencing her evening walk, she encounters friends, who proffer a lantern, warming tea, and an invitation to a gathering. Molly rejects each offer; her captured stars provide all the light, warmth, and comfort she needs. She climbs to her favorite high point, where she realizes how her selfishness has deprived the now “dark and gloomy world” of its exquisite starlight. Hesselberth depicts Molly’s dress as a kind of cage: While the stars she’s consumed glow visibly, their luminosity doesn’t extend beyond her. Remorsefully, she uses a key to unlock her garment, returning the stars to the sky. Feeling empty, she retraces her route home but sees her four friends, sharing a telescope, a picnic—and community. Gratefully, she joins them as Hesselberth gently conveys a strong yet never heavy-handed warning against selfishness. The nocturnal palette of wintry purples and deep blues is accented with complementary tints of pale orange and yellow. Molly is light-skinned, and her friends’ faces are pastel blue, mauve, and butter-yellow, suggesting a hyperstylized diversity. Simple six-pointed stars glint across galaxies of gestural color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Readers won’t miss the gracefully delivered message: Generosity and friendship triumph over greedy self-absorption.