Henry is a snail who loves to explore his environment during the night. He can burrow under fallen leaves, find water drops on spider webs, marvel at the construction of nest built by birds using twigs and he can see all of this because the moon lights his way.
"But what are stars for? he would whisper to no one at all."
Because Henry has an unanswered question he decides to venture out in daylight and ask his question. The bee has no time for questions like this. The kookaburra thinks this is a ridiculous question. All the bandicoot can see is food - Henry quickly hides. Luckily there is someone wise who can help. That night Henry sees a wombat gazing up at the sky. He bravely asks his question one more time.
"Stars are for looking at together."
Sometimes in our rush to read a new book we forget to stop and look at other parts of the book such as the end papers and page layouts and colour palette. All of these features are beautifully designed in this book. You also need to stretch out the cover to see the front and back - the snail (his name is Henry) and on the back the wombat (her name is Celeste). This is also an example of a quiet story. Many years ago Mark McLeod talked about the importance of sharing quiet stories with our children. His comments inspired me to start a Pinterest on this topic. Think about the title too - the question is what are stars for but the title reverses this to what stars are for.
Here are the wonderful end papers which show the day and night setting for this story:
This book was published in 2024 so I am certain it will be a CBCA 2025 Notable title and I hope to also see it on their Early Childhood shortlist. Read more about Margeaux Davis. Take a look at this review. Make a plan to share this gentle story with a young reader today. Take a look at Instagram posts by Margeaux Davis.
Companion book:
Here is small section of other picture books about stars. You can search for each of these titles using my side bar:
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