You Are Stardust
PreS-Gr 2-Bright dioramas created with pen-and-ink, pencil crayon, watercolor, dried flowers, and cut paper fancifully illustrate this exploration of human beings and the world around them. Beginning with stardust, the economical text takes readers from their atoms all the way to their relationship with the natural environment. Each page attempts to shock or surprise: "The water swirling in your glass/once filled the puddles/where dinosaurs drank." "You may sprout even taller/in the spring and summer, just/like the plants in your garden." Readers learn interesting facts about themselves and are urged to make parallels to the planet at large. Meanwhile paper cutouts of children travel from page to page in the mixed-media dioramas, illustrating the text's assertions in a fantastical way. The art and text don't quite come together seamlessly in the book's design, but each one provides much to consider and absorb. While striving to make these big connections in nature, the text presents thoughtful ideas but sometimes anthropomorphizes the animals. An author's note includes a link that explores the science behind the broad statements in the book.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MAα(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.