This simple book can be enjoyed for its colorful illustrations and childlike story, or it can be viewed as more complex with references to religious or cycle-of-life topics. The text is brief, with one element of nature asking for another. The boy is asked to draw a star, then the star asks the boy to draw and sun, and so on. The illustrations of each object fill the page, and the colors are vibrant. The only part that may startle some readers is that the sun asks the boy to draw a tree, and when you turn the page you see a beautiful tree. Then tree asks for the boy to draw a man and a woman, so the page opposite of the tree has a woman and a man drawn in typical Eric Carle fashion, but they are nude. There is not much detail, but adults who are reading this to children should be prepared for young readers to comment on it. The rest of the book continues as it started, and flowers, a dog, cat, butterfly, and other earthly creatures appear. Finally, a rainbow arches over two pages filled with things that children will recognize. There is a house, and people, a garden, rain clouds, and birds chirping. It is all very lovely and filled with life and energy. The boy ages throughout the book. By the end he is an old man, and the beautiful, colorful star asks him to hold on as they fly through the sky together in the night sky. There are flying up with the other stars, and below is the green earth and homes. Carle also shows readers how to draw a star, line by line. This simple how-to piece helps the reader feel included in the experience. The story seems to be written so that its meaning is "in the eye of the beholder". Young readers will enjoy the beautiful art and simple story, and older readers will ask more questions and look for a deeper meaning to Carle's words and pictures.
Carle, E. (1992). Draw me a star. New York, Philomel Books.
Impressions
I will admit that I was at first confused about what the purpose of this book was. I had trouble understanding how the story was plotted out, and I was startled by the picture of the man and woman. Not so much because they were nude, but because it made me think of the story of Adam and Eve. I initially felt like I was not understanding what the book was about. After reading through it a few times I realized that it could be interpreted many ways. It can be a religious book if you are looking for that kind of meaning, it could be a book about the cycle of life because the boy ages as the story moves along, or it could be interpreted as a celebration of all of the truly wondrous living and nonliving things around us. It could be providing the reader with a reminder that nature and our daily existence is to something to be treasured and acknowledged. I think this is one of the things that makes Eric Carle's work so lasting. He sees the magnificent in the ordinary, and his art work and simple text let us see the world the way he does, at least for a little while.
Professional Review
A remarkable, quintessentially simple book encompassing Creation, creativity, and the cycle of like withing the eternal. Introduced on the title page as a toddler drawing the first of five lines to make a star, an artist ages until, at the end, he's an old man who takes hold of a star to travel the night sky. Meanwhile, the first star says, "Draw me the sun", the sun says, "Draw me a tree," and so on, woman and man, house, dog, cat, bird, butterfly, flowers, cloud, a rainbow arching over the middle-aged artist's whole creation, and back to the night and the stars. Carle's trademark style--vibrant tissue collage on dramatic white--is so wonderfully effective in expressing the joy of creation, while the economy with which he conveys these universal ideas gives them extraordinary power. Yet the story is disarmingly childlike, concluding with an ingenuous letter from the author with instructions for drawing an eight-point star. Thanks be to the book for asking Carle to "draw" it!
Kirkus. (1992, September 1). [Review of the book Draw me a star, by E. Carle]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/eric-carle/draw-me-a-star/
Library Uses
I imagine a wonderful art activity around the makerspace area. Post discussions about the book could center around ideas students have about how the story progressed. Why do they think the boy was young in the beginning and old at the end. Why do you think the star asked for the sun, and the sun asked for a tree? What did they like about the story? What would they change? Could there be a different ending, or does it have to end the way it did? Eric Carle wrote a note to the readers at the end of the book. What do they think he meant when he wrote this about writing the story, "I had a beginning for a book, and an ending. The middle was easy!"
All of these discussions will be more fun if done around the makerspace area where they can make their own "stars" using tissue paper, glue, foil, cardstock, etc.
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