How Many Stars in the Sky? by Lenny Hort

Book Genre: General Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a father and son who are both having trouble sleeping because mother is out of town. The son wants to count the stars, just like he does with his mother. His father takes him into the city, but the lights are too bright for them to see the stars. Then they drive out to the country where there are so many visible stars that there is no way they can count them all. They look at all of the stars and talk about the Milky Way and planets. The father and son are too tired to drive home, so they sleep in the back of the truck under the stars. The next morning, the son realizes that the time he spent with his father was special and asks if they can do it again sometime.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. The content of this book was okay, but the illustrations were amazing. It looked like the illustrator painted the pictures, and they had such great detail. Young children can relate to this story because the child in this story was missing him mom, and his dad was trying to cheer him up. I am sure that all young children can think of a time when they have missed someone.

Reading Level: 3.5

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book could be used during a science unit on space. It talks about the Milky Way, planets, and the sun is a star. The book also showed how you cannot see stars very well if it is too bright outside, and that stars can be seen better in darker locations. Writing could be incorporated about the planets and stars, or on a more personal level about a time when a child missed someone. They could describe how they felt and what they did to feel better. Art could be integrated by comparing the illustrations of several books and talking about how some pictures are drawn, some are cartoon-like, and some are painted. Students could create a picture about space and choose the materials they would prefer, such as pencils, crayons, markers, or paint.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.