Song of the Stars
Title: Song of the Stars
Author: Sally Lloyd-Jones
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Publisher: ZonderKids
ISBN: 978-0-310-72291-5
Audience: Ages 3+
Summary: “The Skies Shouted it to the seas that thundered it to the waves that roared it to the great white whales that sang it to the starfish in the deep. And the tiny sandpipers danced it on the sands…It’s time! It’s time!” This beautifully illustrated book through painted depictions of animals shouting “It’s time!” tells the story of how creation prepared for “A Light to light up the whole world!” The pictures themselves tell the story of “the one who made us has come to live with us!”
Literary Elements:
Genre: Fable
Setting: All of creation preparing for “a tiny little baby.”
Characterization: 3rd person telling of how the world – the stars and seas – the animals respond to the news that the “Bright and Morning Star” is coming into the world.
Theological Conversations: We tend to think about how we, humans, prepare with anticipation for the coming of the Christ child. Have we stopped to think about how all creation celebrates the newborn King! The sound of creations chorus? This children’s book takes us back to the creation stories of Genesis reminding us that God made all things good and that indeed all of creation rejoices at the sound of a baby’s newborn cry. “Heaven’s Son sleeping under the stars that he made…”
Faith Talk Questions:
- What is your favorite Advent/Christmas hymn to sing at church?
- How does God’s story of creation and the story of awaiting Jesus’ birth relate to each other?
- In this children’s book are many names for baby Jesus, which name do you like and why?
- Which animal would you like to be in celebrating with praise that baby Jesus is born? What would you say?
This review written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Neeley Lane
Song of the Stars by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
