Module 10 - Draw Me a Star

Book Cover Image

Book Summary

A young artist is asked to draw a star, so he does. Then the artist is asked by the star to draw a sun. The sun asks for a tree. This pattern continues with each new picture asking for another until a beautiful garden scene is put together, complete with a rainbow. The rainbow asks for a dark night, which eventually leads to a beautiul star in the sky.

Written by Eric Carle

APA Reference of Book

Carle, E. (1992). Draw me a star. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Impressions

Just like Eric Carle's other works, the images are the first thing that readers notice. The tissue paper collage images are hypnotic. The simple shapes are a sharp contrast to the depth and complexity of the tones and patterns. Like the simple shapes, the word choices are also simple. This combines with the sentence structures make this a very readable book for emerging readers. The predictability of the text also adds to the readability. Other than one page, this is a sweet simple story. Those that challenge this book focus on one page of this children's picture book. When the tree asks the artist to draw him a man and a woman, he draws them with no clothes and fairly anatomically correct. As a parent this can be viewed as a problem if the book was not previewed before reading it to your children or if they read it away from you. 

Professional Review

K-Gr 4-- A young boy is told (readers are not sure by whom) to ``Draw me a star.'' The star then requests that the boy draw it a sun; the sun asks for a ``lovely tree,'' and throughout his life the boy/man/artist continues to create images that fill the world with beauty. The moon bids the now-elderly artist to draw another star, and as the story ends, the artist travels ``across the night sky'' hand-in-hand with the star. This book will appeal to readers of all ages; its stunning illustrations, spare text, and simple story line make it a good choice for story hour; but older children will also find it uplifting and meaningful. Especially pleasing is a diagram within the story, accompanied by rhyming instructions on how to draw a star: ``Down/ over/ left/ and right/ draw/ a star/ oh so/ bright.'' An inspired book in every sense of the word.

Larkin, E. (1992). Draw me a star. School Library Journal, 38(10), 80.

Library Uses

In this book Eric Carle draws beautiful stars. He also breaks down the process into eight easy steps to follow. This could be used as a springboard to talk about how complex things, such as the research process, can be broken down into smaller steps to make it manageable.