Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

by Jerry Pinkney

Inspired by one of our most popular children's lullabies, Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney's gentle world -- where the loving arms of nature embrace us despite darkness or uncertainty -- is perfect for easing little ones into dreamland.

Here is the perfect gift and essential item for every child's first library! One of the most acclaimed children's book illustrators of our time now takes his legendary skill with watercolor to new heights in this lavish visual adventure. As a curious little chipmunk leaves his nest to greet the twilight, he gazes at the glittering sky above him. He can't help but also notice the sparkling dewdrops on a spider's web, the lights of the fireflies, and the shimmers of moonlight on the water. "How I wonder what you are!" marvels the tiny creature, launching a dreamlike quest to reach for the stars.

Don't miss these other classic retellings by Jerry Pinkney:
The Little Mermaid
The Lion & the Mouse
The Tortoise & the Hare
The Grasshopper & the Ants
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Little Red Riding Hood

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Music, Poetry, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2011

About the author

Jerry Pinkney was an American illustrator and writer of children's literature. Pinkney illustrated more than 100 books, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. Pinkney's works addressed diverse themes and were usually done in watercolors. He was the recipient of five Caldecott Honor books and the winner of the Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse. He also won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, the Coretta Scott King Honor four times, and was nominated for the prestigious international Hans Christian Anderson Award.

Reviews

[Lorellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is utterly stunning. I can't believe how beautiful the illustrations are. Tot loved it as well. Would recommend at any age.

[Christina Basso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with a twist written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book is about chipmunk who longs for night so he can see the stars. Once the night comes he falls asleep and has a wonderful dream. In his dream he turns a bird’s nest into a boat and flies off into the starry sky. A clouds wind’s blowing allows him to sail through the sky until he dropped his hat and jumped into the lake to retrieve it while continuing to admire the starry sky in the water’s reflection. Along the way he passes many animal creates who help him and eventually we see him dreaming in his nest fast asleep.

Although this book has words, Pinkney’s illustrations are what really bring the story to life. He uses such vibrant colors and allowing his reads to get engrossed in the story and fly alongside the chipmunk through the starry sky. Actually, one of the reasons this book in particular caught my eye was because of the beautiful water painting of a chipmunk in his boat flying through the sky on the cover. This a classic nursery rhyme with Pinkney’s own personal twist. This story has a wonderful theme of the adventure of dreams and to dream big. In the book this chipmunk longed for seeing the stars and through his dreams he was able to go on an adventure through the clouds on a flying boat seeing things from a new perspective. Through his dream he met many different animals and got to see the wondrous stars he was so curious about. It shows that dreams can bring you anywhere and bring you on wonderful adventures and also to dream big. Also, I found this book fairly easy to follow but I feel it takes a little imagination and room for interpretation to make the story complete which is something I actually really like about the book.

There are also many different educational activities that can go along with this book such as you could have your class journal using the following questions: Write about if you think the chipmunk was awake or dreaming in this story? Have you ever had an adventure through your dreams? Are you curious about the stars like the chipmunk was? If not, what are you curious about? Another activity is to have your students think about something they are curious about and have them write a story about the perfect dream adventure using their idea of interest as the basis, as in this story with the chipmunk and his interests of stars. Once the students have completed their story you could have them share their peers. Another activity is to have copies of the illustrations printed out. Have you students select a page and write a poem inspired by that particular illustration.

Overall, I feel Jerry Pinkney is a very talented illustrator and writer. I really enjoy how he puts a twist on classics and brings his writing to like through his water color paintings. The book Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is really a wonderful story with a get moral lesson within it to dream big and that dreams can take you on the most wonderful adventures.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alena had a big smile on her face the whole time I was reading this book to her. Of course I actually sang all the verses and that might have been a factor. She loves when I sing books to her. Beautiful illustrations. It was the best book of the ones I read to her yesterday.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am going to get howled down by those who feel that (as the cover trumpets) "Caldecott Medal Winner" Pinkney can do no wrong. But charming as this is--and as always his artwork is lovely--the story line and illustrations here totally distract from the lovely simplicity of a song that has been sung to babies and children for centuries.

This is the song I sang to my daughter as a baby on my shoulder. It is a song that was a comfort song to her for many years--and might still be at 16, if the occasion rose!

With the Caledcott Medal to his name, Pinkney could have done this story without tying it to the song lyrics, and it would have been wonderful. I wish he'd done that book instead.

[Kelly Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it to my 2 year old tonight. It was hard for him to follow along. The chipmunk and the illustrations are just too far fetched and unrelated to the song. We were looking forward to reading it because he's familiar with the song, however, it was not a good fit for us. Maybe in a few years...

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, but sometimes it's hard to tell what's happening. The kids I read it to weren't interested in hearing the other verses of the song.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations and the expanding of the lullaby for me and the boys, now to learn them. We sang it instead of read it.

[Jennifer Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awards Received: None

Appropriate grade level(s): Preschool to Second Grade

Summary: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star follows a squirrel who is using the little star to guide his path through the night. As the classic lullaby is sung, the message that dreams are as real as you want them to be, is shown through the beautiful illustrations.

My review: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is an amazing book that takes you on a magical adventure through song and vivid illustrations. This book is a good bedtime story and sends a great message about dreaming big.

1-2 Possible in-class uses: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a great book to discuss when you are asking your students about their dreams and goals. The squirrel dreams of many adventures that seem impossible but he does them anyway. It can also be used during science lessons and it can be used as a reference when doing crafts dealing with the sky.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a children's picture book of the classic lullaby and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

The text is simplistic and straightforward. It is the lyrics of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and I learned that there were more than one stanza to the lullaby. Pinkney's illustrations are drawn phenomenally well. The illustrations follows an adventurous chipmunk with the song in the background.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. The lullaby is soothing and my nieces joined in with me as I sang the lullaby – their only complaint is that they wished I had a better singing voice. The illustrations are so intricate that it does take away from the text, but my nieces seem to enjoy them.

All in all, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a wonderfully lullaby brought to written form that was illustrated remarkably.

[Rachel Doran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never thought that this well known song was actually a book. I thought that the book was well illustrated and I loved knowing the song was the story. The illustrations shows a chipmunk at nighttime who is trying to figure out what that bright thing in the sky is. He meets a ton of animals along the way as he continues to find the star. I think young readers would love this book, and of course it is a great bedtime story. I recommend this book for that reason precisely, children know the song so they are able to follow along and match it with the illustrations being shown as well. Very cool.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful illustrations.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter had a different version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (this one, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, by Sylvia Long) so when I saw Jerry Pinkney's on the library shelves, I just had to read (and more importantly, look at) his beautiful take on the classic nursery rhyme, with an adventurous chipmunk as the protagonist of the story. The artwork is sheer perfection, of course. What a sad loss to the world of art and children's literature upon his passing last year.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

First fun fact. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was written by Mozart when he was only 4 years old. I love a song a 4 year old wrote over 200 years ago is still on everyone's minds. I saw a Chinese Drama where the lead girl leads a group of townsfolk with the song, so it's the world over.

I got this book because I love Jerry Pinkney's work. I love his take on classic fairytales. The artwork was lovely. The story is about a squirrel dreaming away at night. I just didn't catch his vibe here.

It's fine.

[Emily's Storytime Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I absolutely adore this book. I love using the rhyme and I love the story with the squirrel and the artwork. However, you need to know the story really well to make good use of it. Then during the images where there are no words you can talk about it. I read it twice and didn't know it as well as I should have and I felt as thought I struggled a lot telling it. I won't read it again for Books & Babies, but it'd be good for the 3/4/5 storytime.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pinkney illustrates the full song following a chipmunk who finds star-shaped things all around.

Beautiful illustrations and make sure you read the author's note at the back to understand some of the allusions in the illustrations. This would be a great one for older art classes to analyze for themes and allusions. Recommended to kids who like the song and/or chipmunks.

[Brianna Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is intended for Pre-K through Kindergarten.
The book covers the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.
The illustrations are not attractive. The chipmunk looks a little eery or scary. It provides visuals with the song that are engaging but possibly for the wrong reasons.
I would use the book to not only do a read-aloud with the students but introduce the idea of rhyming words.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the change in font. The detail in each of the flowers, feathers, trees, fur, all are glorious! I like the different formatting on each page. Pinkney's author's note again provides deeper appreciation for his artistic choices. I didn't know there were multiple verses to this classic lullabye. A gem indeed.

[Jared White · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and whimsical take on the classic song. If you're willing to not only sing but also narrate a few wordless pages then this could be a great book not only for bedtime but also for a preschool or lower elementary class.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice, soothing read. Of course the text wasn’t too intriguing because it’s just the lyrics to the famous song, but the pictures were unique and functioned like a wordless picture book/graphic novel, which was interesting.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, imaginative take on a classic lullaby with illustrations of an adventurous chipmunk that take on a story of their own. This is a must-read/must-own for those who love Pinkney's art.

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
Grade: K-2
Such a neat twist on twinkle twinkle little star. The pictures were so intriguing and thats what drew me in.

[Olyvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were beautiful!

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it
New rhymes
Cute illustrations

[Christine Diamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful realistic art. Great adventure through a classic common poem. More verses than I thought there were.

[Gwen Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations based on the song. A little more complex story - better for toddler or family storytime.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know that Twinkle Twinkle Little Star had more than one verse until I read this adaptation illustrated by Pinkney. Beautiful and imaginative.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat book for storytime. Some of the pages are just pictures, but the pictures provide a lot of opportunity for dialogic reading.

[Allie]

My coworker Gail read this for PJ storytime this week and it is so gorgeous and soothing.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This did not hold the focus of my preschool class.

[Guadalupe Arcibar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very great book for pre-k to kindergarten! It has more pictures but also you can sing while your reading the book. Overall this book is definitely great for beginner readers!