Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations

by Jacqueline Mitton, Christina Balit (Illustrator)

National Geographic’s stunning rendition of the constellations’ glittering lightshow is now available in paperback.

Take an illuminating ride through the starry night sky, and learn how the heavens pay tribute to the gods of Greek and Roman mythology. Once Upon a Starry Night explains the ten ancient figures whose legends are written large across the universe. Every page shines with Christina Balit’s vibrant art, studded with shiny stars, and provides the perfect backdrop to Jacqueline Mitton’s poetic text.

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Mythology, Childrens, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Space

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/jacqueli...

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

British physicist Jacqueline Mitton and illustrator Christina Balit team up in this third picture-book about the heavens, following upon their Zoo In the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations and Kingdom of the Sun: A Book of the Planets . Here they profile thirteen lesser-known constellations (fifteen, if one considers the three constituent elements of Argo), pairing a brief synopsis of the Greek mythological story behind each constellation name, with gorgeous illustrations of the mythological figures in question. An afterword gives more information about the various constellations, while the decorative endpapers show the northern and southern skies...

Much like Zoo In the Sky , I found Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations to be an engaging book, one which explores a fascinating topic, and which contains absolutely beautiful illustrations. I have long been an admirer of Balit's work, and am glad to have finally tracked down this follow-up to Zoo In the Sky , which I read when it first came out in the 1990s, and then recently reread. I do wish that more details had been given, when it comes to the mythological stories being presented, but I appreciated the blending of scientific and mythological education here. This probably would have been a three-star title for me, but Balit's beautiful artwork, with its vibrant colors, appealingly stylized figures, and use of foil stars, was so enjoyable that I raised my rating. Recommended to young sky watchers and star lovers.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton was one of the books I chose for an astronomy themed project last semester. The goal was to come up with twelve age appropriate books on a certain topic. In this case the age range was ages 5 to 8 which by itself ended up being extremely difficult. I don't plan on reviewing every single book from the project but Mitton's book was one of my favorites.

Once Upon a Starry Night is an introduction to the lesser known constellations. It's a companion book two others: Zodiac, which covers the twelve best known constellations, and Zoo in the Sky, which covers the animal constellations.

Mitton provides short, easy to read summaries of the stories behind each of the constellations included in the book. Where appropriate she includes hints on pronunciation.

What makes this book though are Christina Balit's illustrations. They remind me of Roman mosaics. The stars are done with a gold foil and really catch the eye.

[Buzzkill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art in this book was beautiful! I love how they put art to the different constellations. My elementary school kiddos struggled with the actual story though, mostly because of the Greek names and pronunciations. The stories were also very short, so they didn't really get a lot of the different myths mentioned in the book. But the art got them excited about making our constellation keychains and tree ornaments!

[Yvonne Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations that covered this book were stunning I can't handle it.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. I've seen others such as A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations--and How You Can Find Them in the Sky, that I think do a bit better job of introducing the concept of constellations and the background stories behind them. All that being said, after reading this book to my 5 year old, I asked him which constellation was his favorite and he said he liked "Orion, because he was chasing the girls. Exercise is always a good thing." A 5 year old's innocence is always refreshing.

[Lagobond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like its companion Zoo In the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations, this is a ridiculously beautiful book. The colorful and detailed illustrations, the shining silver stars, the elegant borders... just lovely. Unlike the soothing Zoo in the Sky, these stories are rather dramatic and violent, but that's a given with Greek mythology.

As I mentioned in my review for Zoo in the Sky, I would prefer for the text to not be set against a white background, because I find the white jarring against the night sky illustrations. But that's a minor quibble.

[Christina Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

January is learning about space/weather. This was a really neat book! Mythology stories are what help me develop my love of space. Being able to share that love to my young children with this book was a jem. At the end, there is further reading about the night sky and myths mentioned in the book. There is also star charts of both the north and south hemisphere to help spot them in the night sky. The illustrations are beautiful and colorful. The stars really pop among their illustrated constellation.

[Whole And · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and written with short descriptions of the constellations and their mythological story. Sky maps of the northern and southern constellation included in the later pages. Excellent learning tool sprinkled with magic.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great treatment of a topic that could have been over my four year old's head. She loved the stories and the raised stars and star maps.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cool. I've never really seen a book on constellations and the stories that go with them. This book gave a detailed map of the northern and southern sky constellations. This was just the end papers. The book is the stories that go along with some of these stories like the Argo, Perseus, Orion, etc. They are short little snippets of the stories, but fine. I just enjoyed learning about the constellations. Now, I want some more books about his subject.

Of course, I want to check out some material on Chinese Constellations.

The artwork was nice. If you want fuller stories on the myths, this is not the book for you. These are general overviews of the story.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5?

[DeNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to the stories behind our constellations.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good one to read with a young one at night.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elementary level book about constelations in the sky and an explaination of their history.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my son's favorite bedtime stories. I'm thinking of getting the others in this collection.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! The way the author combined astronomy, mythology and storytelling is amazing!

[Crystal M]

The jewel-toned illustrations are vibrant and interesting. I wish the text had included more of the myths for context, but I will still use it in class for my astronomy lessons.

[BuggaBoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little disjointed, but good

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Jacqueline Milton tells the stories of the constellations in Once Upon a Story Night. She compares the night sky to a "vast picture book" filled with kings, queens, gods, herds, and mythical creatures. The stories include Argo, Centauries, Ophiuchos, Orion, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Hercules, Lyra, Pegasus, and Perseus. Each is accompanied by one of Balit's brilliant illustrations. The colorful and stylized images center around the constellations themselves but also include parts of their respective stories. The book includes star maps of the Northern and Southern Sky. This book would be useful in introducing astronomy.

Recommended for grades 2 - 4

[Slee · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a small child interested in myths or astronomy, it's an engaging book, but I found, with my three year old, that the explanations of the stories were not nearly in depth enough, and I was thankful that I already knew the myths in question so I could explain the stories better.
The images are beautiful and engaging, but the information just isn't quite up to par for the curiosity level of the targeted audience.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

52 months - O was excited to read some books about the stars and constellations after exploring nebulas with Dad on the iPad and looking at the stars while camping. She enjoyed the illustrations and we spent a bit of time looking at the end leaf pages with images of the north and south skies. The text gives a hint of the stories behind each of the characters depicted but could have used an introduction to how they were named or why.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a very aesthetically pleasing book, that tells the story of the major constellations. My son loved it. Only one caveat: not having a realistic or a miniature without the superimposed drawing actually showing the stars connected to each other. My son was actually a little confused by the slight story differences between this book and another book, which can be chalked up to to different sources throughout the ancient world, but that only shows he was reading critically.

[Jeremiah Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

We borrowed this book for Classical Conversations Cycle 1.

The book is great, but it's too short -- in 2 ways!

The story behind each constellation is very brief. Some of the stories connected to other stories, and some didn't.

My 6, 4 and 2 year olds all loved the book but were disappointed that it was over so quickly!

The artwork is really very beautiful.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book on constellations. My 4 year old loved this book with it's gorgeous pictures and stories about the different constellations. The only downfall was that she was disappointed that there wasn't more information about each one and it was too short.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This National Geographic book explains the Greek names of many of the constellations.

[Hannah Cobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple, illustrated guide to the Greek myths regarding constellations. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides colorful illustrations with silver stars, to show how the constellations are drawn, as well as provides short explanations of the legend behind each one. A great astronomy supplement.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay