Stella Princess of the Sky: A review and 10 fun ways to extend the book!

I absolutely adore the Stella books by Canadian author Marie-Louise Gay. If you haven’t read any of them run to the book store right now! They’re that good.

Title: Stella — Princess of the Sky
Author and Illustrator: Marie-Louise Gay
Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2010
Audience: Ages 2 and up
Theme: Imagination, Space, Relationships

Opening:

“Stella!” cried Sam, “Stella! Look! The sky is on fire!”

Brief Synopsis (taken from Amazon. com):

When Stella’s brother, Sam, cries “Stella! Stella! Look! The sky is on fire!” the pair begin a new adventure exploring the wonders of the natural world. A vast, luminous sky, the sun, the stars, and the rising moon form the backdrop for their nocturnal expedition. As they encounter raccoons, fireflies, tree frogs, and bats, Sam wonders if the moon can swim, if the sun wears pajamas, or if he can catch shooting stars with his butterfly net. Stella, as always, has an answer for every question. Marie-Louise Gay delights readers once again with this whimsical, tender, and humorous book that captures perfectly the freshness of young children discovering the world.

Why I Like This Book:

Three reasons ~ I adore the illustrations and I love the sweet relationship between Stella and her little brother Sam. What’s especially charming, is that when Stella doesn’t know how to answer Sam’s million and one questions, she just makes stuff up! AND, her books come in English and French.

Links to Resources and Ideas for Book Extensions:

1. The link to Marie-Louise Gay’s website.

Click Here 

She has lots of stuff here, including a really great kids’ page. Her blog looks good, too.

2. I found this wonderful video of Marie-Louise Gay talking about her writing process. It’s very fascinating!

3. Before reading the book pull out a selection of Sam’s questions (e.g., “Can the moon swim?” “Does the sun wear pajamas?”), write them on the board and ask your students how they would answer these questions. After reading the book compare Stella’s answers with your class’s.

4. Have each child choose their favourite question (from above) and ask them to write and illustrate their own answer, trying to be as funny and imaginative as they can.

5. On one of the pages (see above) Sam notices that the “sky is on fire”. Turn this into an art opportunity. Have your students paint a sky using a selection of red and yellow watercolours. Show them how to carefully blend so that you can still see both red and yellow, but also orange. Before it’s dry dab the sky with some crumpled Kleenex to give it a cloud effect.

6. Start collecting your students’ questions about the nighttime world and display them on the wall. Don’t forget to research and answer as many as you can!

7. Ask your students why they think the book is called Princess of the Sky. Is that a good title?

8. Stella is a wonderful big sister. Ask the students to find evidence in the book of her kindness.

9. Do you remember doing crayon scratch art when you were a kid? This would be the perfect art activity to illustrate the natural world at night. You can find the directions at Kids Activities Blog. When your kids are ready to scratch out their picture, remind them to draw some evening nature scenes.

10. National Geographic for Kids has this GREAT article with 8 night games for kids plus all sorts of wonderful reasons why it’s important for kids to have the opportunity to play in the dark. Check it out!

Enjoy!!