Ada can’t wait until summer so she can leave the big city and go to Maine. Not only are her grandparents there, but she gets to see the stars at night.
She is so impatient for nighttime after she arrives, but her grandpa, called “Poobah,” shows her plenty of treasures during the day, from an osprey’s nest, to shells, moss, and crabs.
Finally it is dark, but a fog has rolled in. Poobah can only show Ada a book full of photographs of stars and galaxies taken by the Hubble telescope, and he explains to her some facts about them. Then the fog clears and Ada can see the sky for herself. Happily, she calls her grandparents to come look at the stars shining and swirling all around them.
Watercolor illustrations by Susanna Chapman are stunning.
In an interview, Lightman, who has a doctorate in theoretical physics, says he wanted to help “rekindle the fresh awe of gazing up at the starry night sky, or holding a spiraling seashell in your hand, or listening to the haunting call of a loon. Also, the feeling of connection to nature. We are all part of something larger than ourselves.”
This is the first book published in a collaboration between a university press, the MIT Press, and a children’s publisher, Candlewick Press. I hope it won’t be the last!
Evaluation: There are two messages in this book: not only one about the many wonders of nature, but also about the rewards of patience. The warm supportive family is a bonus.
Rating: 4/5
Published by Candlewick Press in collaboration with MIT Kids Press, 2021
Rhapsody in Books Weblog 
We sure did see a lot more stars on our Maine trip!