Child of the Universe

by Ray Jayawardhana, Raul Colón (Illustrator)

Overview

Perfect for fans of The Wonderful Things You Will Be and That's Me Loving You, this picture book by a renowned astrophysicist is a lyrical meditation on the preciousness of one child and the vastness of the universe.

Just like the sun gives shine to the moon,
you light up the world beyond this room . . .
You are grand and marvelous, strong and mysterious.
The history of the world is in your fingertips.

A lyrical meditation on the preciousness of one child and the vastness of the universe, this gorgeously illustrated picture book shares the immensity of a parent's love along with the message that we are all connected to the broader cosmos in important and intimate ways. A perfect bedtime read-aloud, Child of the Universe is a book to cherish forever.

The author is an astrophysicist who has been fascinated by the universe since he was a child. As a parent, he has developed a new appreciation for the deep connections between billions of years of cosmic evolution and this one tiny human.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524717551
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.25(w) x 10.38(h) x 0.37(d)
Lexile:	AD680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, Ray Jayawardhana investigates the origins and diversity of planetary systems and the prospects for life in the universe, using many of the world's largest telescopes. He is a prolific researcher with more than 125 scientific papers to his credit, whose discoveries have garnered widespread attention. Child of the Universe is Ray's picture-book debut. Find out more at drrayjay.net or on Twitter at @DrRayJay.

Raul Colón has illustrated several highly acclaimed picture books, including Draw!, the New York Times bestselling Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt; Susanna Reich's José! Born to Dance, and Jill Biden's Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops. Mr. Colón lived in Puerto Rico as a young boy and now resides in New City, New York, with his family.

Editorial Reviews

There's hardly room—or need—for white space in a book this grand and glorious. Out of this world.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A magnificent journey through the cosmos.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This lovely picture book can spark interest in scientific exploration, create awareness of our connection to the cosmos, and encourage dreamers.” —School Library Journal, starred review

"The simplicity of the text is brilliantly upheld by Colón’s spectacular colored-pencil illustrations. The wordless spreads are particularly compelling for their swaths and curlicues of rich colors depicting cosmic wonders such as solar flares, atomic structures, and ocean waves." —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 12/23/2019

Accompanying inspirational words from astrophysicist Jayawardhana (Neutrino Hunters for adults), luminous illustrations by Colón (Counting the Stars) imagine a magnificent journey through the cosmos. “My father says I am made of stars,” a girl with dark curly hair says. The two sit on her bed together, gazing at the full moon. “The universe conspired to make you,” he tells her. A page turn later, the view widens to show the sun radiating golden heat like tongues of flame; opposite, the girl radiates energy, too, visualized as a golden aura: “You light up the world beyond this room.” Throughout, warm, rhyming affirmation blends with scientific fact: “The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, are made up of stars that lived long ago.” The girl’s body is shown as a void filled with whirling galaxies; later, she walks weightlessly across an expanse of space and earth, leaving oscillating waves in her wake. In contrast to picture books that promote STEM to girls by showing them engaged in scientific activities, Colón represents the child as the actual embodiment of elemental science: a figure in white gown and with streaming hair who is at home in—and made up of—the farthest reaches of the universe. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 02/01/2020

PreS-Gr 4—This beguiling bedtime tale at once explores a child's place in the universe and in a loving parent's heart. Acclaimed astrophysicist Jayawardhana's lyrical text underscores the intersection of science and wonder, the intimate and the expansive, the familiar and the unknown. Gazing out the window at bedtime, a girl's father tells her that she is made of stars: "The universe conspired to make you…/Just like the sun gives shine to the moon,/you light up the world beyond this room." Colón's eye-dazzling mixed-media paintings majestically convey the grand ideas, effortlessly pivoting from depictions of celestial skyscapes to close-up images of a nightgown-garbed girl with flowing black curls and twinkling eyes. One spread shows a midnight-blue silhouette of the child—her body filled with bright-hued renditions of the long-ago stars that now make up the "iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones"—set against an abstract background that could be viewed as microscopic body cells or a broad image of a sun. Worlds seem to coalesce and collide ("Your atoms spin like Saturn's rings./You are a part of everything"), as stylized atoms dance above the girl in a dreamy planetary panorama, appear like tiny henna tattoos on her arm, or become giant-sized enough for her to float through. All of these astral wanderings and wonderings are brought home with a cozy conclusion, as the girl's father tucks her into bed beneath a smiling moon. VERDICT This lovely picture book can spark interest in scientific exploration, create awareness of our connection to the cosmos, and encourage dreamers to embark on their own journeys of imagination.—Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

School Library Journal

★ 2019-12-22
A child "made up of stars" finds their place in the universe.

"The universe conspired to make you," a father tells his child as they gaze out at the moon one night from the child's bed. As the father goes on to wax poetic about his love, the art takes readers on an intergalactic journey. Nebulae, galaxies, planets, and stars populate breathtaking, high-contrast double-page spreads that feature the curly-haired, brown-skinned child out in the universe. One spread depicts a silhouette of the child while the text reads, "The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, / are made up of stars that lived long ago." Another, wordless spread depicts the child at the center of a giant atom. Astrophysicist Jayawardhana's picture-book debut effectively and eloquently affirms the importance of a single life amid the vastness of the universe—a small lesson under the blanket of parental love. Though framed by the child's first-person narration, the story is primarily driven by the father's monologue. Colón's art, created in his signature scratched-colored pencil technique, revels in the details. The soft, cool tones of the Earth scenes provide a wow of a page turn as the colors explode with warmth in subsequent spreads. Gold foil stars speckle the cover. There's hardly room—or need—for white space in a book this grand and glorious.

Out of this world. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews