Stella, Star of the Sea (Stella and Sam) [Hardcover]

Marie-Louise Gay (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up | Series: Stella and Sam

Stella and her little brother are spending the day at the beach. Stella has been to the seashore before and knows all its secrets, but Sam still has a lot of questions. Does a moonsnail come from the moon? What can you buy with a sand dollar? Stella has answers for them all. The only thing she's not sure about is whether Sam will ever come into the water. Through exquisite watercolors, this book brings to life a perfect summer day and the sweet and funny relationship between an older sister and her baby brother.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Marie-Louise Gay's squat, snub-nosed children with their frenzied locks are as familiar to under-fives as the wild things of Maurice Sendak. In Stella, Star of the Sea (which won a Governor General's Award for illustration), the gifted picture-book artist introduces the irresistible duo of Sam and his spirited older sister, Stella. "Stella and Sam were spending a day at the sea shore," Gay begins this playful celebration of summer, adding, "It was Sam's very first time." Stella is an adventurer, eager to dive to the ocean floor, tame sea horses, and dig a hole to China, but her little brother, Sam, is made of more cautious stuff. When Stella, looking out at the sea from the top of a delightfully round sand dune, exclaims, "Isn't it beautiful, Sam?" he observes with a characteristic deadpan, "It's very big... and noisy."

Gay humorously contrasts the children's impressions of the sea in pictures and dialogue that capture Sam's experience of its frightening enormity, as well as Stella's joy in its secret treasures. To fend off the prospect of a swim, Sam keeps asking Stella anxious questions like "Does a sea horse gallop?" Stella's replies are as authoritative as they are imaginative: "'Yes!' cried Stella. 'And you can ride a sea horse bareback.'" Gay's whimsical watercolors show Stella swimming alongside tropical fish and holding onto the back of a child-sized pink sea horse, while Sam hangs behind, a tiny speck in a water ring on the distant shore. Ultimately, of course, Stella's irrepressible enthusiasm wins over Sam's sober hesitancy, and in the final image of this charming picture book the two of them float happily in a luminous blue green sea. (Baby to age 4) --Lisa Alward

From Publishers Weekly

Gay (Rumpelstiltskin) describes an indefatigably curious boy's first day at the beach with his indefatigably imaginative older sister. In answer to Sam's endless questions, Stella informs him that starfish were once shooting stars "who fell in love with the sea"; that a round shell is a shark eyeball; and that sea horses can be ridden bareback (the illustrations support this last claim). Enjoying the sea, Stella puts an end to Sam's questions with one of her own: "Sam! Are you ever coming in?" The cartoon figures, with childishly outsize heads and pear-shaped bodies, inhabit a deceptively harmonious mixed-media landscape. The diverse elementsAthe watercolor sea, the flecked-paper beach, the diffused skyAcome together to suggest an air of holiday abandon. This nonchalant slice-of-life tale with its sunny, eccentric illustrations makes for an enjoyable trip to the seashore. Ages 2-4.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (March 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888993374
• ISBN-13: 978-0888993373
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FRESH, FUN, & ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE, September 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Stella, Star of the Sea (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)

I just discovered Stella and Sam this weekend and they are now officially my favorite children's characters ever! The brother and sister relationship has never been explored with such sweet simplicity. A worried Sam asks the truly stellar Stella question after question after question, and she answers with pizazz and panache, until Sam can't help but be influenced by her infectious enthusiasm. Their paunchy little-kid stomachs and Stella's flame-red hair are sooooo cute that the book would be worth the buy even for the pictures. Luckily you don't have to compromise - the dialogue makes it difficult to read without laughing aloud and the story flows with a fresh feeling that is completely enjoyable.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adorable, funny book!, March 3, 2000

By 

Sarah Melissa Montambo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stella, Star of the Sea (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)

Stella aquaints her little brother, Sam, to "The Sea"--a world to which she is an expert and which adults do not seem to inhabit. He is testing the waters, obviously timid about his first ocean adventure. She is an avid explorer--unafraid to share her waters with fallen stars (starfish) and galloping sea horses. It's worth buying this book just to see the picture of the two fishing off of the pier. Absolutely Adorable!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This beach adventure is especially great for 3-4 yr. olds., July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stella, Star of the Sea (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)

The illistrations are beautiful. The story with all of sams questions and stellas imagination are right out of a preschoolers mouth. Fun summer reading.