Stella, Star of the Sea

The first in a series of picture-books detailing the adventures of siblings Stella and Sam, Stella, Star of the Sea follows the two children as they spend a day at the shore. Lively, enthusiastic Stella is anxious to introduce her little brother to the wonders of the sea, but timid Sam finds it all rather overwhelming. It's so big, and so noisy! His seemingly endless series of questions - "Are there any sea monsters? Where do starfish come from?" - are answered in an imaginative and subtly reassuring way by Stella, until she finally asks a question of her own...

An engaging brother-sister tale, enhanced by charming watercolor illustrations, this lovely little book is also an exuberant tribute to the delights of a summer day at the beach. show more Gay's palette is bright, but never garish, and her figures have a cartoon-like oddness (very thin legs, and rather "blobby" torsos) that is somehow quite endearing. I can't say that I enjoyed Stella, Star of the Sea quite as much as some of my friends, but I can definitely see the appeal, and plan to look for other titles in this series, when the opportunity presents itself. show less

Stella and her little brother are spending the day at the beach. Stella has been to the seashore before and knows all its secrets, but Sam still has a lot of questions. Does a moonsnail come from the moon? What can you buy with a sand dollar? Stella has answers for them all. The only thing she's not sure about is whether Sam will ever come into the water. Through exquisite watercolors, this book brings to life a perfect summer day and the sweet and funny relationship between an older sister and her baby brother.

Stella and her brother Sam are visiting the sea. It's his first time, and he has a lot of questions, like so many children we know.

Now, Stella seems to live in a genre I like to call "Children don't need parents". There are no parents in this book - and if you look closely, the only other people we see (and we don't see many of them, it's a very uncrowded beach) are children as well. (Don't overthink it, it'll only give you a headache and you won't be able to enjoy the book.) So the task of answering Sam's questions falls to her. And so she does answer them, with amazing patience, however fancifully. (I particularly liked reading that starfish are shooting stars that fell in love with the sea.)

The real fun isn't in the Q&A session, show more which, no matter how cute, is just typical preschooler stuff (and we can all think of our own cuter stories to top it because our own cuties are the bestest, right?), but in the personalities. Without telling us explicitly, without making a big deal of it, we can see the huge difference in Sam's caution and curiosity with Stella's quite literal dive-right-in attitude. It makes them come alive as real-real people, and it's hard to do that in a short picture book.

Apparently there's a whole series of these books. I have every intention of getting more of them. show less

Stella and Sam are at the beach; Stella is enthusiastic about all things ocean: sealife, shells, swimming, etc. Sam is hesitant and hangs back, asking Stella questions - if she doesn't know the answer, she makes it up, ha ha. (Sounds like my mother.) Eventually, Sam is satisfied with Stella's beachly knowledge and excitedly decides to join her in the water.

There are many many lovely things about this title: the illustrations are really gorgeous watercolors with some mixed-media collage-type stuff thrown in occasionally. Stella and Sam are adorable cartoony tykes with round bellies and heads and pug noses. Stella's red hair is a shocking splash in the pastel ocean - the character herself matches her hair: exuberant, vibrant, etc. Sam is show more hesitant and nervous, but it's cute in the face of Stella's overwhelming surity. This is a really sweet and beautiful book. Loved it! show less

This was a cute book. I like how Stella has an answer for almost every one of Sam's questions, even if it's not really correct. I think kids reading this will relate well to Sam's curiosity about new things. I also really like Stella's enthusiasm, and how much she wants to share her joy with Sam.

Stella and her little brother are spending the day at the sea. Stella has been to the sea before and knows all its secrets, but Sam has many questions. "Where do starfish come from? Does a catfish purr? Does a sea horse gallop?" Stella has an answer for them all. The only thing she isn’t sure of is whether Sam will ever come into the water. Evocative watercolors bring a diaphanous day at the beach alive in this perfect summer story. Gently humorous, the book also captures the relationship between an older sister and her baby brother — a responsibility that can be both lots of fun and very trying. (amazon)

Beautiful story and wonderful illustrations. Stella and her brother Sam go to the beach. Sam is anxious and refuses to swim. Stella answers all of his questions with such poetic explanations. I loved it and my children too