Star Boy

by Paul Goble

An all-new foreword by the author explains the rich Blackfoot symbolism used in his artwork, adding new depth to the powerful legend of the Sun Dance depicted in this long-time favorite. The brilliantly colored, stylized art is at once transcendent and comprehensible.--The Horn Book. Illustrated in full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Native American, Folk Tales, Fiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published March 1, 1983

About the author

Paul Goble was an award winning author and illustrator of children's books. He has won both the Caldecott Medal and The Library of Congress' Children's Book of the Year Award.
He gave his entire collection of original illustrations to the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, South Dakota.
Goble, a native of England, studied at the Central School of Art in London. He became a United States citizen in 1984. Goble's life-long fascination with Native Americans of the plains began during his childhood when he became intrigued with their spirituality and culture.
His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researched ancient stories and retold them for his young audiences in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways.
Goble lived with his wife in Rapid City, SD.

Reviews

[Chapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift from the Powells. I read it to my grandson, E. for his first time last night at bedtime. He loved the illustrations.

[spookybelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, and my kiddo immediately recognized the art and the author from one of his Reading Rainbow favourites, Gift of the Sacred Dog. We love the storytelling and the illustrations. There are themes of love, disobedience/curiosity (à la Pandora's box), hope, courage, forgiveness, and gratitude. There's more in it than I can possibly explain in a brief review, and far more than my toddler is able to understand right now. I look forward to reading this with him many times over the coming years and getting something new out of it each time.

[Megan Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an native american folk story about an earthly women falls in love with the morning star and has his child, star boy. Star boy's mother does the one thing that morning star asks her not to do; she picks the root that opens a hole to the sky world to her world. So they send her back to her world and she dies quickly after that. Star boy is left alone and with a scar on his face. He wishes to marry the chiefs daughter but he believed he was not good enough to marry her with the scar on his face. So he ask his grandfather, the sun, if he can get it removed. He ends up getting the approval and marrying the girl.

Star boy is a very one dimensional character. You do not really get to know Star boy or any of the other characters. You just see the surface of them and not anything about their personality or the way they feel. The theme is about honor and teach the youth about how the stars came to be in the Native American folk story. The pictures are very colorful in some aspects to draw attention to star boy or the sun, while most the pictures are dark representing star boy's loneliness and the sky world. It gets brighter as the book goes on as the Star boy finds his love.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Goble retells the story of Morning Star, Evening Star and their son Star Boy. Star Boy travels to his granfather's lodge, the lodge of the Sun. He asks for Sun's blessing to marry his love. Grandfather Sun removes the scar from Star Boy's face as a sign of his blessing. He tells Star Boy that if the people build a lodge in his honor each summer, he will heal the sick. Each summer, the people build the Sun Lodge and hold the Sun Dance ceremony.

This book would be appropriate to share as a read aloud with children between five and seven years old. Older readers may be able to read the book independently. Readers that enjoy folktales will enjoy this story. It would be appropriate for helping children develop narrative retelling skills.

[Autumn Kopesky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
Because of something his mother has done, star boy is banned from the sky world. Star boy later falls in love with the chiefs daughter and she gives him the courage to go to the sky world and apologize for his mothers actions and ask for forgiveness.
Evaluation:
I think this book had a very good representation of a different type of culture. It is important for students to understand that not everyone's culture is like theirs.
Teaching point:
A teaching point that could be used for this would be character traits. It is important for students to learn and understand character traits, and this book has quite a few characters that are talked about, so the students would be able to distinguish traits for each of them.

[Tayah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goble, Paul. Star Boy. New York, NY: Bradbury, 1992. Print.

This book was a good book, it should be read. This book is about an American Indian legend. It would be a good recommendation for anyone who wants to hear stories about the Indians. Star Boy is not meant for any specific age group in my opinion however people under the age of 6 would most likely have a hard time reading it on their own.

[Shannon Futrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is a Native American folktale about the stars in the sky being godlike characters. This book would be great for teaching students the moral values that the Native Americans believed was true.

[Rowan Jaffe]

From Rosie

[Mallory Ong]

Native American Book

A book about star boy, who seeks approval from the sun- good for exploring culture

Lexile level-AD 660L

Grade level-3-5

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful story! and the Paul Goble illustrations are great.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little story for my nephew - with wonderful illustrations.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Native American legend is an interesting explanation of how the moon and the sun came to be, as well as how Native Americans celebrate their existence. It all starts with the Evening Star who disobeyed the Sun. Evening Star had a child with Morning Star and they named him Star Boy. Star Boy was born with a scar on his face as a reminder of his mother's disobedience. When he grew up, he fell in love with the chief's daughter, who encouraged him to speak with the Sun and ask for the Sun's approval so he can marry the chief's daughter. As a result, Star Boy learns of the Sun dance to thank the Sun for his blessings.
The colours in this book are very bright and warm, which is symbolic of the sun. The pictures and drawing style is a classic Native American style of drawing. The lines are straight and precise, symbolizing order and structure.
Because this book is a story that explains what the moon and the sun are from Native American beliefs, it is labeled as a folktale. This story could be translated and adapted to different cultures or regions.

[Gabby Settembre · Rating 4 out of 5]

An earthly women falls in love with the morning star and has his child, star boy. His mother does the one thing the morning star asked her to do; she picks the pink root that opens a hole to the sky world from her world and she dies. Star boy is left alone and with a scar on his face. He wishes to marry the chiefs daughter but first has to get approval of the sun and to remove the scar. He ends up getting the approval and marrying the girl.

Star boy is a very one dimensional character. You do not really get to know Star boy or any of the other characters. You just see the surface of them. The theme is about honor and teach the youth about how the stars came to be. The pictures are very colorful in some aspects to draw attention to star boy or the sun, while most the pictures are dark representing star boy's loneliness and the sky world. It gets brighter as the book goes on.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two sisters are sleeping under the stars. In the morning, one tells the other that she loves Morning Star, and that he is her husband. Later, when she goes to the river, Morning Star is standing in her path. Taking a juniper branch with a spider on it he wraps her in his blanket. The spider lifts them into the sky. There they are very happy. She soon bears a son. One day the Moon (Morning Star's mother) gives the girl a digging stick and tells her to dig up some roots. Moon warns her not the dig up the plants with pink flowers. The girl is overcome with curiosity and digs up just one pink flowered plant. Through the hold she creates she sees her village and her family. Sun (Morning Star's father) is displeased with her disobedience. He sends her back to Earth because her heart cannot be in two places. Her people find her asleep on Morning Star's robe with her young son beside her. Never happy the girl soon dies and returns to the Sky, leaving behind her son. As her son grows the scar put on his face by Sun for his mother's disobedience grows. He is poor and the scar has made him ugly. He cannot claim the chief's daughter whom he loves. The chief's daughter urges him to go back to the Sky World. She is convinced that the Sun will remove the scar. The boy travels to the place where Sun sinks each evening. There he finds a great body of water. Two loons begin to swim toward the horizon and the boy follows the shining path they leave behind coming to the Sun's lodge. When the boy tells his grandfather of the girl his love he receives his grandfather's blessing. The scar is removed and the boy returns to Earth richly dressed. The boy and the chief's daughter are married. Each summer, in accordance with Sun's instructions, the villagers construct a lodge in the Sun's honor. They go there to ask for removal their own physical or emotional scars.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Sharon Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young Blackfoot Indian girl slept in a field and awoke to the Morning Star. She told her sister that Morning Star was her husband. Later as the girl was traveling to the river, she ran into a stranger who told her that he was her husband. They traveled to Sky Land, married, and soon had a baby boy who they named Star Boy. One day she decided to dig up a plant, which the sun and moon told her to never do, and became very sad because she could see her family down below on earth. The sun and moon were very angry, sent her back to earth, and placed a scar on the baby’s face. The mother died and the boy was fell in love the with chief’s daughter. He was told to go back to Sky Land and ask his grandfather for forgiveness for what his mother had done, for a blessing to marry the girl, and to remove the scar. The grandfather (sun) did his grandson’s request.

Genre: Traditional Literature
Suggested Ages: 8 - 10 years

[M.M. Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent telling of an Native American legend. Here we have the morning star who marries a girl from the Earth. He takes her back to the sky to meet his parents who are the Sun and the moon.

A child is born from the two but is cursed with an ugly scar because his mother disobey a warning. He grows up on Earth for a long time but wants to marry the chief's daughter. He must make the journey back to Grandfather Sun to remove his ugliness. He manages to do so and promises to worship and honor him every year for health.

In real life, this honoring of the sun and remembering of ancestors is called the Sun Dance. It is still held today in secret and is sacred to Native American nations.

I loved this re-telling and made me understand a little bit more about the Sun Dance and its origins. I am honored to know such a thing.

Disclosure: I obtained a copy of this book at our local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another beautiful story about Native American culture written by an author originally from England. I'd like to see more such books by people who were actually raised with the traditions and stories. Maybe they're there and I just have to watch for them.

The author's note at the beginning gives background about the story and explains the symbolism used in the illustrations. Invaluable!

"This is the story of how the sacred knowledge of the Sun Dance was given to the Blackfoot people. The full story is recorded by Walter McClintock in 'The Old North Trail' (1910), and by George Bird Grinnell in 'Blackfoot Lodge Tales' (1892)."

[Lisa Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing Native American Folktale that described the Morning Star and the Evening Star. This was another example of how the Native American culture was represented well visually and their inate talent of storytelling is showcased. Folklore is fascinating for so many age groups and in this case, the bold pictures were amazing as well. Folklore lets our imaginations wander and dream of our own stories. Many folklores offer a wonderful moral at the end as well. This lesson was about bravery and trying to find your own place in this world.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Two stars are for the story. It was an interesting tale, but I guess I am not evolved enough or exposed enough to Native American Folk Lore t fully grasp it all. It is full of symbols and imaginary and things I just don't understand. This story could have been told in about10 pages instead, it went on and on. It was just a lot of bland. At least if you want to know where the Sun Dance came from and why the Blackfoot pitch a a lodge once a year you now know..

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about finding courage and setting out on journeys - I love the images and think that it is a great book to use with any age group.

[Katey Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story about bravery. I loved it as a child and love reading it to my students when they need that extra boost! The pictures are amazing.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting tale of the evening star and morning star.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Boy
Goble, Paul
one of the best native american story writers that allow children to be exposed to native american culture

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Paul Goble book, both for the illustrations and the story.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of the stars. Beautifully illustrated. Picked this gem up at the Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix. Visit if you get the chance. What a fabulous archeological museum.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.
Girl sees boy.
They decide they are in love.
They get married and have baby.
Baby grows into a man and gets married.

Gorgeous illustrations.

[Laila Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story “Star Boy” tells the Native American Legend of the moon, the sun, and their family. An earth girl falls in love with the morning star and not being able to stand being apart, the morning star transports his earth love to his world. Unfortunately the earth girl disobey’s the sun by breaking the one rule she was told to follow. As a result she was sent back to earth without the love of her life. The earth girl however soon has morning star’s baby and names him star boy. Shortly after star boy is born, his mother passes away where she happily joins her love morning star. Star boy grows up poor with a large scar on his face. He soon decides that he can’t marry the love of his life the chief’s daughter with a scar on his face. So he sets out on the mission of meeting his grandfather the sun to rid himself of his scar. Eventually Star boy finds his way to the world of his grandfather who tells him that he must worship and honor him every year for good health. Star boy agrees and when he returns to earth, he is able to marry the chief’s daughter without a scar upon his face.

The story “Star Boy” using the shape of a circle when representing the sun, moon, and morning star. Not only is the sun and moon circular looking in real life but the circle represents endlessness and protection. The sun protects his son morning star and eventually the people of his grandson. The sun and the moon are also endless to the characters in the story. The story “Star Boy” also uses the two colors of green and blue throughout the entire story. The color green is used to represent vegetation which means the vegetation contained within the book gives a calming effect to the characters. The color is used in the sky of the book which represents detachment. The elements contained within the sky like the sun and the moon are somewhat detached from the people below on earth.