Nova the Star Eater

by Lindsay Leslie, John Taesoo Kim (Illustrator)

Overview

Nova has a big appetite for stars, so when she decides to gobble up Earth’s Sun, panic erupts around the globe. Earth needs its Sun to survive! How will it get it back from Nova? One bright little girl just might have a solution. Sparkling with humor and interstellar adventure, this story showcases creative problem-solving and a subtle reminder to not eat someone else’s food—or stars—without asking first.

Expressive illustrations add excitement and silliness to Earth’s predicament, while a mix of the fantastical and factual provides a fun way to learn just how important our Sun is. A laugh-out-loud space adventure full of gas…and heart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624146930
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lindsay Leslie, author of This Book Is Spineless, has been in awe of space since she was a kid. She graduated from the University of Texas and has more than fifteen years of writing experience in marketing and public relations. Her blog “A Book and a Pie” reviews picture books and pairs them with fitting pie recipes. She lives with her husband and two boys in Austin, Texas.


John Taesoo Kim, illustrator of Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth, creates character and background art for a tech training company when he’s not drawing trees or stars. He has a BFA in Illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art and lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Editorial Reviews

06/10/2019

Nova has an insatiable appetite for stars: “she glides through the galaxy slurping up stars at the speed of light... Her favorites? Red supergiants. Yummy and plump.” Kim lightly anthropomorphizes Nova as a fiery, gaseous ball with just the hint of a face. When Nova eats the Sun (“a juicy yellow dwarf”), panic ensues on Earth, and astronauts plead with Nova to burp it up: “The Sun provides energy for plants to grow, light so we can see, and heat to keep us warm.” On Earth, world leaders gather and discuss strategies for removing the sun from Nova, and the precocious child of the U.S. leader suggests that tickling Nova (with a giant robot arm) will cause the sun to pop out of her tummy. Long blocks of dialogue tend to clutter up the story, but Leslie stages a fun scenario that includes brief, science-based back matter. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"An imaginative tale and an informal astronomy lesson rolled into one book." - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/01/2019

K-Gr 2—Roaming the spaceways, gulping stars from red supergiants on down, Nova swallows a juicy yellow dwarf and is taken aback by the storm of protest that rises from a pretty planet nearby: "The Sun is our star!" "The people on Earth need it to survive!" Considering that the snack has made her uncomfortably gassy (at both ends), Nova is more than willing to give it back—but how? Earth leaders from many countries (not, interestingly, including the U.S. or Russia) gather to confer, but even the idea of waiting "until it passes" seems risky. In Kim's big, glowing illustrations human figures are a young, diverse lot and Nova (presumably a black hole, though never identified as such) is portrayed as an immense but nebulous sphere with anthropomorphic features. The winning ploy, suggested by a child, turns out to be tickling Nova with Earthly winds and treetops, plus a very large hand fortuitously carried aboard a human spacecraft. Putting the Sun back where she found it, Nova departs for Orion's Belt and a closing twist ("…is this your star?" "Nurz, zeets nehs." "Fantastic!"), both figuratively and literally dark. Though science truly takes a backseat here, the Earthlings' explanations of what the Sun does for our planet are right-on, and an afterword adds further facts about our local star and fellow planets. VERDICT A delicious astro-tale that provides lower primary grade audiences with glimpses of our place in space, capped with a zinger that will please Jon Klassen fans.—John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New York

School Library Journal

2019-02-13

An imaginative tale and an informal astronomy lesson rolled into one book.

Nova the star eater eats any star in sight: supergiants, white dwarfs, blue giants, binaries, you name it. On her way through space, she gulps Earth's sun, creating panic on the planet. The leaders of the world gather and dispatch their "best astronauts" to get their sun back. They plead with Nova: "The people on Earth need it to survive! The Sun provides energy for plants to grow, light so we can see, and heat to keep us warm." Back on Earth, leaders and scientists discuss how best to get the sun out of Nova when (slightly out of the blue) the (female) leader of the United States' daughter, a bright, young, brown-skinned girl, speaks into a microphone: "We could tickle her." Nova agrees, and so, using the ocean waves and treetops and aided by a spaceship's robotic arm, the Earth proceeds to tickle Nova. Leslie's narrative is somewhat arbitrary and clunky but will still entertain readers. Kim's illustrations incorporate vibrant colors when depicting the solar system, while humans back on Earth are rendered in taupe, browns, and greens (earth tones, appropriately enough). Seeing men and women leaders from around the globe and astronauts of various shades is wonderfully refreshing. An author's note on the science behind the story punctuates the book; a small glossary is also provided for inquisitive young readers.

A playful read for outer-space enthusiasts. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews