• Age: 6 to 9
• Grade: 1 to 4
• Reading age: 6 to 9

A little girl and her father have an opportunity to appreciate the wonders of the night sky.

Phoebe helps her dad set up telescopes on the sidewalk outside his store. It’s a special night — Saturn and Mars are going to appear together in the sky. But will Phoebe be able to see them with all the city lights?

Raindrops begin to fall, followed by lightning and thunder. Phoebe is filled with disappointment as she and her father hurry inside to wait out the storm.

But suddenly the power fails and then, amazingly, the rain and clouds disappear. Phoebe and her dad and all kinds of people spill into the street. And there, in the bright night sky, the splendor of the planets and a multitude of stars are revealed for all to see.

An illustrated afterword includes information about the solar system, planetary conjunctions and rings, moons, telescopes and light pollution. A glossary and recommended further reading are also included.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Uma Krishnaswami's inspiration for this book came from her memory of planting a mango seed as a child and seeing it grow into a tree, and also from a news story about people who planted trees in potholes. She has written many children's books, from picture books to middle grade readers to retellings of classic tales and myths, including Bringing Asha Home (CCBC Choices), The Happiest Tree (Paterson Prize finalist, CCBC Choices, Bank Street College Best Books), Naming Maya (IRA Notable Books for a Global Society) and Chachaji's Cup (Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, Bank Street College Best Books). Her latest middle grade novel, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, published by Atheneum, received starred reviews in Kirkus and School Library Journal. She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is an active blogger. Uma was born in New Delhi, India, and now lives in Aztec, New Mexico.

Uma Krishnaswami's profile page

AIMÉE SICURO is an award-winning illustrator who recently published her first picture book, Bright Sky, Starry City by Uma Krishnaswami, which has been highly acclaimed.

Aimée Sicuro's profile page

A gentle tale of a shared father/daughter enterprise, and Sicuro’s mixed-media illustrations, with their gauzy chalk and translucent watercolor touches, convey both the objective and emotive pleasures of stargazing.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In addition to a sweet, resonating, multi-culti father-who-encourages-STEM-for-his-daughter story, you’ll also enjoy a rather extensive astronomy lesson . . . as well as a detailed reminder on the importance of going green.

BookDragon

This story of a young girl of color with a passion for science will fill a gap in many collections.

Booklist

Sicuro captures the wonder of “how deep the night was and how endless” through a series of circular drawings and collages . . . as Krishnaswami’s near-breathless prose recounts first one and then another of the sights now visible.

Horn Book

Capture[s] a strong sense of a special, shared moment.

Kirkus Reviews

Krishnaswami’s elegant, understated writing focuses . . . on Phoebe’s hopes, disappointments, and curiosities, as well as her tender relationship with her father. Newcomer Sicuro’s mixed-media illustrations are similarly attentive to the story’s emotions.

Publishers Weekly

A warm and wonderful ode to the universe for the modern urban astronomer.

Brain Pickings