Shine, Star, Shine! is a book that will help explain some of the mystery of stars, using our closest star, the sun, as its principal character.

Written in a narrative form, Shine, Star, Shine! takes readers on a journey, beginning with the birth of a star.

At sunrise, animals come out to play and people go about their day. The star (sun) turns as the day progresses, and ultimately as the seasons come and go.

The star (our sun) is important in many things we take for granted, such as growing and ripening plants, and heating and cooling the earth. And there are many more stars than just the one that is our sun. Trillions of them. Some of which form shapes we know as constellations.

Author Dom Conlon is a poet with a background in advertising, and he’s used this experience well to select and write about starry facts in an unusual and expressive way. The lilting narrative is complemented with beautiful pictures by illustrator and graphic designer Anastasia Izlesou.

Shine, Star, Shine! is a great STEM-themed book to add to home libraries, and to use in classrooms.

Teachers’ notes can be downloaded from the publisher’s website.

Title: Shine, Star, Shine!
Author: Dom Conlon
Illustrator: Anastasia Izlesou
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing and Graffeg Books, $24.99
Publication Date: July 2022
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781486316823
For ages: 5 – 8
Type: Picture Book, Junior Non-Fiction