I can't express how much I love this book. The storytelling is poetic, compressing the science and history of the solar system into something manageable and understandable and awe-inspiring. The art complemented the text, abstract and textural, expressing feeling to each page. I highly recommend this book for read aloud or solo reading.

I have a shelf on Goodreads called "abstract idea," which is for picture books that I admire for how they visually represent something abstract. Here, illustrator Ekua Holmes may get the top prize, as she faces the challenge of illustrating the birth of the universe, the earth, and a child, described in lovely, spare verse by Marion Dane Bauer. Her images (hand-marbled paper and collage assembled digitally) dazzle the eyes with swirls of color and pattern. I expect Caldecott buzz for this one, t...

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review.*This book is absolutely stunning. Each page is an explosion of color and wonderful to look at. This is a picture book for children of all ages–very young children will love all the colors in the pictures. Young children will enjoy the story of the universe and the message that we are all made of the same stuff as stars.The Stuff of Stars is a beautiful book that’s a grea...

I'm sure that a lot of people rave about the illustrations but they just seemed 'off' to me. Stunning, original, but just not quite right. I especially couldn't make out the primary cover image of two people for the longest time.The poem, the text, is fine. I'd like to have read it w/out the distracting pictures; I might have liked it a lot if I'd read it straight. My inner scientist wants to dispute the use of the word 'speck' for that which existed before the beginning.... but it's not entirel...

One of the most beautiful narrations of the Big Bang that I've ever read. The pages will leave you breathless.

I'm really sad that the authors of what could have been a gorgeous non denominational book about the wonder of life and the interconnectedness of the universe decided it had to include 'weighty as God' putting itself squarely into capital G and singular territory and ruling out any non-theist or non-monotheistic individuals.It's still beautiful, it just has a degree of exclusiveness it really didn't need.

It is a poem! In a picturebook! With marbled illustrations! ABOUT THE BIG BANG!!!!

This was a disappointment. Though Ekua Holmes's brilliant artwork is lovely, I was annoyed by the book. It was apparently too much to ask to have a completely secular book about the Big Bang - God has to be named to appease the creationists who are going to despise the book anyway. And, then there's the fact that the idea for the book is obviously snatched from this Carl Sagan quote:“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made

A simple but poetic text exploring the birth of the universe, the formation of the planets and the solar system, the eventual evolution of life, and the birth of an individual child - the reader and/or listener, perhaps? - is paired with astonishingly beautiful artwork in The Stuff of Stars. Each two page spread features a few sentences from author Marion Dane Bauer, who won a Newbery Honor for her children's novel, On My Honor , as well as the hand-marbled paper and collage art of illustrato...

Stunning collage-style illustrations accompany a beautifully worded poem about how the earth and life exploded into being. This captivating picture book is one of my 2019 Caldecott favorites.

The creation of the universe, the solar system, and Earth are stunningly and spectacularly imagined in verse and art.

Lovely book with evocative abstract illustrations depicting life from the Big Bang to the birth of the reader.

4.5 ⭐. A beautiful yet so very short picture book, though I didn't realize it was a picture book when I got it as a library ebook. Lovely prose, and gorgeous art. Definitely worth checking out!

A beautiful book explaining the interconnectivity of the universe and how we're all the stuff of stars. Very pretty. I read this book as part of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards 50th anniversary challenge promoted through the LA Public Libraries.

This absolutely gorgeous picture book follows the journey of a tiny speck through the big bang. The speck becomes stardust, and the stardust becomes planets, plants, animals, and eventually, YOU (or the baby/child you are reading this to). Bauer's text has a rhythmic cadence to it that lends itself to reading out loud, and Holmes' illustrations give a dreamlike atmosphere to the book. The marbled pictures are wonderful, although maybe a bit too abstract for younger children - but still provide g...

This poetic and visually explosive picture book describes the big bang in lyrical text that captures the beauty and drama of the beginning of the universe. My almost-five-year-old was fascinated by the illustrations and though the book does not mention religion at all, she immediately attributed the images she saw to God, which made me feel good about her understanding of the relationship between faith and science. This book makes the abstract concept of how the universe came into being into som...

This book is absolutely stunning and so beautiful to look at, each page explodes with colour and tells a beautiful story as well :)

A truly unique story with very abstract art about the birth of the universe, our planet, animals and humans

This picture book touched me so much. Gorgeous illustrations and adept use of the page turn for dramatic effect. I had chills, my eyes teared up. I want to buy it for all of my niecephews.

Lush, gorgeous book about the Big Bang theory for children, starting with a speck and leading to dinosaurs and humans and then YOU, the reader. My 5 year old loves having it read to him, and it really fit in well with a lot of recent discussions he has initiated about his memories before he had a body and his belief that he will be love in the universe after his body is gone. I was a little surprised at the mention of God (capitalized) as I had assumed it would be a non-theistic book, but it wor...