Record Details



Enlarge cover image for Touch the brightest star / Christie Matheson. Book

Touch the brightest star / Christie Matheson.

Matheson, Christie, (author,, illustrator.).

Summary:

An interactive picture book showcasing the beauty of nighttime. Includes facts about the natural world at night.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780062274472 (trade edition) :
  • ISBN: 9780062274489
  • ISBN: 0062274473 (trade edition)
  • Physical Description: 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York, New York : Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2015]
Subject:
Bedtime > Juvenile fiction.
Night > Juvenile fiction.
Stars > Juvenile fiction.
Nocturnal animals > Juvenile fiction.
Genre:
Stories in rhyme.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Headingley Municipal Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Headingley Municipal Library C MAT (Text) 36440000267703 Picture Books Volume hold Available -

  • Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2015 May #2
    In this enchanting bedtime story, double-page spreads in full color celebrate the glory of the deep azure firmament. Just as she did in Tap the Magic Tree (2013), Matheson encourages children to interact with each page to make the magic. They can press the firefly, blow a breeze, wish on a star, and swipe a streaking meteor. They whisper to the moon and call "whoo!" to make the owls come out. Little ones can close their eyes, nod their sleepy heads, and settle in for a quiet night's rest as—"shhhhh"—the sky turns black. At book's end, another magical day begins with sunrise. Back matter gives details about the Big Dipper, stars, meteors, and some nocturnal creatures. Executed in collage, the art features shiny silver stars, wide-eyed owls, and soft silhouettes to stand out over a gorgeous palette of blues, soft pinks, and white. This is a quiet paean to the beauty and mystery of night, when creatures emerge and the moon and stars take center stage. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
  • Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2015 Fall
    The bluebird from Tap the Magic Tree explores the world at night from sunset to sunrise. Throughout, Matheson gives readers actions to take: "Gently press the firefly," and on the next spread the firefly is "lit up." Spacious collage illustrations, child-powered interactivity, and a cyclical quality will send readers back to the beginning for another gentle nighttime. Brief scientific explanations are appended.
  • Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2017 Fall
    Matheson's night-sky-wonders picture book is a natural choice for a board book edition. The gentle text encourages viewer participation ("Gently press the firefly. / Oh! Press again to light up the sky"). As a result, each page-turn brings slight changes to the illustrations, the lovely blue hues of which deepen as night falls. Copyright 2017 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
  • Horn Book Magazine Reviews : Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2015 #3
    The little bluebird from Tap the Magic Tree (rev. 1/14) flies across the first double-page spread as sunset falls: "Magic happens every night. / First wave good-bye to the sun's bright light." In the spacious collage illustrations, swaths of pink and purple streak across the bottom of the page, shading to darker blue at the top, and a birch tree stands off to the far left. Turn the page and the reader is instructed to "gently press the firefly" -- and on the next spread, the firefly is "lit up" in the illustration while a deer peeks in from the right outer margin. As in the previous book, Matheson gives readers actions to take for each page, from "swipe the sky," which is followed on the page turn by a picture of a meteor, to "rub the owls," which have settled on the birch tree, "on their heads." She introduces the Big and Little dippers, and at the end the bluebird returns to the tree, and the flowers -- closed up tight throughout -- open up at sunrise. With the constant, comforting tree and the highlighted changes happening nearby, this exploration of the world at night should be inviting to even the very youngest children, who will also enjoy its imagination-fueled and child-powered interactivity. Its cyclical quality will send them back to the beginning again to pass through another gentle, never scary, nighttime. A closing page gives brief scientific explanations of some of the book's sights. susan dove lempk Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine.
  • Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2015 February #1
    A nocturnal companion to Matheson's Tap the Magic Tree (2013), this interactive picture book illuminates nighttime's wonders while shepherding readers toward sleep. Dusk falls in waves of pink, blue and purple watercolor; lightning bugs glow, stars twinkle and fall, deer skedaddle, constellations shine—all with the touch of young readers' fingers. Rhymes offer clear instructions: "Now let's blow a quiet breeze. // Pat the deer / and say goodnight, please." An implicit sense of power (and even a hint of magic) follows each page turn, imbuing these soft, simple collages with a quavering excitement. With a whisper, the moon appears in the (now) very dark sky—a signal that it's getting to be time for owls to go to bed and probably past time for little readers. A soothing, somnolent narrative voice nudges, "Close your eyes and breathe in deeply. / Nod your head if you feel sleepy." Caregivers will surely appreciate the suggestion, as well as the gentle lesson in prepar ing for and accepting sleep. More learning lies on the final page, which delivers a glossary that offers rich information about the nighttime occurrences, animals and plants featured earlier. A delightful bedtime book that encourages both imaginative play and restorative rest. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
  • School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2015 March

    PreS-Gr 1—Matheson follows up her Tap the Magic Tree (Greenwillow, 2013) with a sunset to sunrise journey through the nighttime sky. As before, readers are invited to interact with the story using a motion, thought, or words that provoke a change with every turn of the page. First fireflies, a deer, stars, and constellations appear, then a full moon and owls take their turn. All is finally still until the first light of dawn, when the magic of the day returns. The simple text is engaging and conversational and little ones responding to each prompt are not likely to be distracted by the occasional faulty rhyme. The mixed-media collage art features a palette of blues as gentle and warm as a summer evening. Full-page illustrations evoke the expanse of space while the nearly transparent earthly creatures enhance the peaceful ambiance of this magical reading experience. Those who are interested in the science behind the magic will enjoy the final page, which provides some basic information about the nocturnal world depicted. VERDICT A charming bedtime story.—Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, Oak Bluffs, MA

    [Page 121]. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.