Stella Keeps the Sun Up by Clothilde Ewing

The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue-Mother Pig’s lines are italicized-adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “ Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity.

Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “ Pirates don’t get seasick either. The digital, cartoonlike illustrations are bright, colorful, and cheerful but don’t make up for the shaky plotting.Īn interesting premise but the execution is underwhelming.Įchoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Also, at the beginning of the story, Stella seems enamored of the moon-she wishes she could jump high enough to kiss it-yet she and Roger spend the bulk of the book trying to prevent nightfall this discrepancy may give some readers pause. Despite the book’s sweet touches, the narrative is weakened by some meandering irrelevancies that make the plot feel disconnected. Eventually, the pair quit when they realize that if the sun never sets for them, morning can never come for Kamrynn, who wakes up when they go to bed. Neither Stella nor Roger like sleeping: “Why do we have to miss all the fun and go to bed just because it gets dark?” Deciding that “if it never gets dark, then we can stay awake forever,” the duo work tirelessly to “keep the sun awake.” They play loud music, shine flashlights at the sun, and even make various attempts to launch a cup of coffee up to the celestial orb in hopes that caffeine will keep it alert. Imaginative Stella, a young Black girl with Afro puffs, misses her friend Kamrynn, a light-skinned, straight-haired girl who has moved to “the other side of the world.” Luckily, Stella still has her best pal Roger, a blue hippo stuffie. Stella hates going to bed, so she and her best buddy attempt to prevent the sun from setting.

Stella Keeps the Sun Up by Clothilde Ewing