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Star Stories: Constellation Tales From Around the World
Share the wonder of the stars with this delightful storybook collection featuring constellation myths from around the world.
For thousands of years people have looked up to the night sky and told stories about the stars. These epic tales tell of vengeful gods and goddesses, of monsters and heroes. Others try to make sense of the natural world, or unravel the mysterious forces of the universe. This stunning book brings together 23 of these legends from all over the world: from Ancient Greece to North America, Egypt, China, India, and the South Pacific. Written by award-winning author Anita Ganeri and with beautifully detailed artwork by illustrator Andy Wilx, this is a magical book to be treasured for generations to come.
For thousands of years people have looked up to the night sky and told stories about the stars. These epic tales tell of vengeful gods and goddesses, of monsters and heroes. Others try to make sense of the natural world, or unravel the mysterious forces of the universe. This stunning book brings together 23 of these legends from all over the world: from Ancient Greece to North America, Egypt, China, India, and the South Pacific. Written by award-winning author Anita Ganeri and with beautifully detailed artwork by illustrator Andy Wilx, this is a magical book to be treasured for generations to come.
96 pages, Hardcover
Published July 2, 2019
35 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Anita Ganeri
1,689 books61 followersAnita Ganeri is a highly experienced author of children’s information books, specialising in religion, India/Asia, multiculturalism, geography, biography and natural history. She became a freelance writer after working at Walker Books (as foreign rights manager) and Usborne Publishing (as an editor). Since then, she has written over 300 titles, including the best-selling Horrible Geography series for Scholastic. The series won the Geographical Association Silver Award in 1999 and was cited as being ‘an innovation that all geographers will applaud’. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society where she conducts most of her research for the books.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 9, 2019
I have seen many collections of traditional tales where buyers are attracted by lavish illustrations, but the re-telling is stilted and uninviting. Not so this lovely book which invites reading aloud and pouring together over the stylized illustrations that glitter with gold metallic ink. The collection includes star stories from many cultures, not just the Greek culture that gave us our Western constellation names. Each story begins with a map of the constellation. I know it is available on-line, but a useful addition to this book would have been a sky map that would locate the constellations in relation to one another. And while we are at it, how about locating the cultures where the stories originated? That said, I can see this book contributing nicely to astronomy, folklore and cultural curricula for classroom or homeschool use and being a cherished gift.
November 21, 2022
The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! I really appreciated that it included many tales other than Ancient Greek or Egyptian. I do wish it listed sources or further reading.
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January 13, 2022Beautiful tales for the little ones and the grown ups too!
October 2, 2019
Fijn dat er ook aandacht is voor andere mythen en verhalen (bv van de Inuit en Aboriginals).
December 7, 2022
Recommended: sure
for children as an entry to global myths and legend and culture in general, for adults who want a gentle into to the same, for lovely art and a physically delightful book to hold
Thoughts:
This would be a lovely book for kids probably around 10 or so, as it has exciting and varied stories from around the world, plus wonderful and engaging art. Honestly anyone would probably enjoy this, but it's definitely a good option for children.
This collection has fairly short and simple versions of each story around a constellation, with stories chosen from around the world. The fact that they are somewhat condensed means that some of the nuance can be missing from them. In exchange, it's easier to get through several without it dragging or getting bogged down in details. For children, I think that'll be great, particularly as a nighttime story. It would be easy to re-read favorites.
The issue I ran into with the condensed stories were moments that felt oversimplified and carrying a problematic message. For example, in the story about Medusa, the reason given for why she deserved / needed to be killed and was a monster was literally just "she was so ugly and people turned to stone when they looked at her." That's a pretty shitty reason -- ugly people deserve to die, huh? I also know there's a LOT more to that story, including petty vengeance from others and over-the-top curses. With children, there are entry points here to discussion around those kinds of issues to acknowledge what's missing from each story in a societal way. Sometimes lore can be extra grim.
Honestly, once you're past the Greek myth section though, things get a lot nicer. What's up with the Greek lore being so petty and vengeful? And there's ones that are like "The giraffe was too tall to help the community with the other animals, until he started to help guide the sun, and then he did such a great job that he felt better and everyone cheered and he was praised for all time for his great help." What a heartwarming tale! I loved those ones. And of course there's always the fun of asking a child what they think the best job for a giraffe is, or imagining how to accomplish some of the other tasks in the stories. I really loved them.
And the ART! Oh, I loved the art. Just holding the book felt luxurious as it's a large size, with gilded end pages, and full pages of art. The gold-embossed constellations for each story captured me every time as I studied the layout and tried to think if I had seen it in the sky before. Some were way more complex that I ever realized, like Orion's belt being a tiny part of it; some were bafflingly simple, like Ares, and made me wonder how anyone ever looked at three stars in a line and thought "hey that looks just like a goat!" I guess times were different (ie boring) back then. Are new constellations named anymore or are they all taken? Hmmm..
Anyway, this was a lovely little read and made me want to look more into some of the stories I was less familiar with.
for children as an entry to global myths and legend and culture in general, for adults who want a gentle into to the same, for lovely art and a physically delightful book to hold
Thoughts:
This would be a lovely book for kids probably around 10 or so, as it has exciting and varied stories from around the world, plus wonderful and engaging art. Honestly anyone would probably enjoy this, but it's definitely a good option for children.
This collection has fairly short and simple versions of each story around a constellation, with stories chosen from around the world. The fact that they are somewhat condensed means that some of the nuance can be missing from them. In exchange, it's easier to get through several without it dragging or getting bogged down in details. For children, I think that'll be great, particularly as a nighttime story. It would be easy to re-read favorites.
The issue I ran into with the condensed stories were moments that felt oversimplified and carrying a problematic message. For example, in the story about Medusa, the reason given for why she deserved / needed to be killed and was a monster was literally just "she was so ugly and people turned to stone when they looked at her." That's a pretty shitty reason -- ugly people deserve to die, huh? I also know there's a LOT more to that story, including petty vengeance from others and over-the-top curses. With children, there are entry points here to discussion around those kinds of issues to acknowledge what's missing from each story in a societal way. Sometimes lore can be extra grim.
Honestly, once you're past the Greek myth section though, things get a lot nicer. What's up with the Greek lore being so petty and vengeful? And there's ones that are like "The giraffe was too tall to help the community with the other animals, until he started to help guide the sun, and then he did such a great job that he felt better and everyone cheered and he was praised for all time for his great help." What a heartwarming tale! I loved those ones. And of course there's always the fun of asking a child what they think the best job for a giraffe is, or imagining how to accomplish some of the other tasks in the stories. I really loved them.
And the ART! Oh, I loved the art. Just holding the book felt luxurious as it's a large size, with gilded end pages, and full pages of art. The gold-embossed constellations for each story captured me every time as I studied the layout and tried to think if I had seen it in the sky before. Some were way more complex that I ever realized, like Orion's belt being a tiny part of it; some were bafflingly simple, like Ares, and made me wonder how anyone ever looked at three stars in a line and thought "hey that looks just like a goat!" I guess times were different (ie boring) back then. Are new constellations named anymore or are they all taken? Hmmm..
Anyway, this was a lovely little read and made me want to look more into some of the stories I was less familiar with.
December 12, 2021
A book of myths from cultures around the world, each explains a unique group of stars in the skies. From Greece, to Australia, to Egypt and other points in between these stories are at once familiar, and new.
The Greek and Egyptian myths I had read many times before. My favorite was the story of Hercules and his labors. The myths from the other countries were mostly unknown to me, so it was fascinating to learn a little about the mythology of these other places. The one I liked best was from Tongo, it was called Hina and the Shark. Hina was a young girl who kept a pet shark in a pen near her home. One day a violent storm destroyed the pen and the shark escaped. Hina searched for days, finally finding the shark and asking it to come home, she missed it so much. The shark, now knowing freedom, did not want to be caged again, so Hina, in grief and a desire not to be parted from her friend dove into the water and became part of a coral reef that the shark would live in.
The illustrations only used a few colors, mostly blues and yellows, but the were elegant, vibrant and lively, really bringing the myths to life.
The only thing that bothered me was, the book had a Table of Contents, but as you read the book, there was no division between each country or location. You would be reading Greek myths, then suddenly an Inuit one would start, but the book did not denote where the Greek section ended and the other began. I saw that as poor design.
Overall though a fascinating, entertaining book.
The Greek and Egyptian myths I had read many times before. My favorite was the story of Hercules and his labors. The myths from the other countries were mostly unknown to me, so it was fascinating to learn a little about the mythology of these other places. The one I liked best was from Tongo, it was called Hina and the Shark. Hina was a young girl who kept a pet shark in a pen near her home. One day a violent storm destroyed the pen and the shark escaped. Hina searched for days, finally finding the shark and asking it to come home, she missed it so much. The shark, now knowing freedom, did not want to be caged again, so Hina, in grief and a desire not to be parted from her friend dove into the water and became part of a coral reef that the shark would live in.
The illustrations only used a few colors, mostly blues and yellows, but the were elegant, vibrant and lively, really bringing the myths to life.
The only thing that bothered me was, the book had a Table of Contents, but as you read the book, there was no division between each country or location. You would be reading Greek myths, then suddenly an Inuit one would start, but the book did not denote where the Greek section ended and the other began. I saw that as poor design.
Overall though a fascinating, entertaining book.
November 18, 2020
Ak ste milovníci mýtov a legiend rovnako ako ja, táto nádhera vám doma rozhodne nesmie chýbať. Autorka Anita Ganeri vás prevedie svetom plných legiend, nadprirodzených bytostí a hviezd prostredníctvom kultúr celého sveta.
Kniha je rozdelená na päť častí, ktoré tvoria legendy z danej časti sveta. Mňa najviac zaujali legendy z Austrálie a Oceánie, aj keď mojou srdcovkou je Staroveké Grécko a Egypt. Bolo zaujímavé čítať o tom, ako konkrétne súhviezde vzniklo a aký príbeh v sebe ukrýva. Popravde, patrím k tej skupine ľudí, ktorá na oblohe ledva spozná Malý a Veľký voz a nieto napr. Pegasa.
Na knihe oceňujem, že je veľmi prehľadná, čo ma zároveň aj prekvapilo. Nad každým názvom príbehu je názov súhvezdia, ktorého sa príbeh bude dotýkať a rovnako aj jeho zobrazenie na oblohe. Odkedy mám knihu prečítanú, môj pohľad často venujem nočnej oblohe a skúšam hľadať dané súhvezdia, aj keď väčšinou to dopadne rovnako, buď je zamračená, alebo skončím pri Veľkom voze 😂
Príbehy hviezd sú jednoducho, v skratke písané, ale podstata je v nich vystihnutá, ktorú podčiarkujú nádherné ilustrácie Andyho Wilxa, ktoré záujmu mladších čitateľov a rovnako aj dospelých, pre ktorých budú balzamom pre dušu. Tmavomodrá obálka so zlatým gravírovaním nápadne pripomína nočnú oblohu, a tým sa stala klenotom mojej knižnice venovanej mytológii, ktorú dokonale dopĺňa.
Svojim spracovaním poteší nejednú knihomoľskú dušičku napr. aj pod vianočným 🌲, tak to berte odo mňa ako taký malý tip 🙂
Kniha je rozdelená na päť častí, ktoré tvoria legendy z danej časti sveta. Mňa najviac zaujali legendy z Austrálie a Oceánie, aj keď mojou srdcovkou je Staroveké Grécko a Egypt. Bolo zaujímavé čítať o tom, ako konkrétne súhviezde vzniklo a aký príbeh v sebe ukrýva. Popravde, patrím k tej skupine ľudí, ktorá na oblohe ledva spozná Malý a Veľký voz a nieto napr. Pegasa.
Na knihe oceňujem, že je veľmi prehľadná, čo ma zároveň aj prekvapilo. Nad každým názvom príbehu je názov súhvezdia, ktorého sa príbeh bude dotýkať a rovnako aj jeho zobrazenie na oblohe. Odkedy mám knihu prečítanú, môj pohľad často venujem nočnej oblohe a skúšam hľadať dané súhvezdia, aj keď väčšinou to dopadne rovnako, buď je zamračená, alebo skončím pri Veľkom voze 😂
Príbehy hviezd sú jednoducho, v skratke písané, ale podstata je v nich vystihnutá, ktorú podčiarkujú nádherné ilustrácie Andyho Wilxa, ktoré záujmu mladších čitateľov a rovnako aj dospelých, pre ktorých budú balzamom pre dušu. Tmavomodrá obálka so zlatým gravírovaním nápadne pripomína nočnú oblohu, a tým sa stala klenotom mojej knižnice venovanej mytológii, ktorú dokonale dopĺňa.
Svojim spracovaním poteší nejednú knihomoľskú dušičku napr. aj pod vianočným 🌲, tak to berte odo mňa ako taký malý tip 🙂
November 21, 2020
Každá hviezda ma svoj príbeh. Niektoré hviezdy sú malé a ledva ich vidieť. Niektoré sú zasa veľké a žiaria tak jasne, že ich v noci vidíme cez okno z postele. Nie je však dôležité aké sú veľké. Každá jedna z nich je malinkým zrnkom v dôležitej skladačke súhvezdí. Ľudia od nepamäti sledovali hviezdy. Priali si, aby im splnili sny, aby im dodali odvahu, či priniesli lásku. Za odvážne činy, či hrozné skutky na varovanie chceli byť vpísaný do hviezd. K súhvezdiam vymýšľali legendy, báje a mýty. A presne o týchto príbehoch súhvezdí je táto nádherne ilustrovaná kniha.
Ilustrácie vám doslova vyrazia dych a musím povedať, že už dlho som nevidela niečo tak krásne. Zlatá farba dodáva knihe historickú magickosť, mala som pocit ako keby som listovala v nejakej svätej knihe. Legendy a mýty sú jednotlivo priradené k súhvezdiam a sú pozbierané z celého sveta. Ak sa vám nepáčia európske báje, nájdete tu aj Oceániu, Afriku, či staroveké Grécko. Ku ktorým súhvezdiam sú ale krajiny priradené budete musieť zistiť samy. Ak sa zaujímate o hviezdy, máte radi krásne ilustrované knihy a nehľadáte náročné čítanie, tak potom táto knižka nesmie chýbať vo vašej zbierke.
Ilustrácie vám doslova vyrazia dych a musím povedať, že už dlho som nevidela niečo tak krásne. Zlatá farba dodáva knihe historickú magickosť, mala som pocit ako keby som listovala v nejakej svätej knihe. Legendy a mýty sú jednotlivo priradené k súhvezdiam a sú pozbierané z celého sveta. Ak sa vám nepáčia európske báje, nájdete tu aj Oceániu, Afriku, či staroveké Grécko. Ku ktorým súhvezdiam sú ale krajiny priradené budete musieť zistiť samy. Ak sa zaujímate o hviezdy, máte radi krásne ilustrované knihy a nehľadáte náročné čítanie, tak potom táto knižka nesmie chýbať vo vašej zbierke.
May 29, 2020
Es un libro precioso y es bello conocer historias acerca de las constelaciones/estrellas que tienen origen en todos lados del mundo, no solamente en el mediterráneo como suele ser lo más conocido.
El libro tiene texto grande y las ilustraciones se ven como para público muy joven, pero al mirarlas de cerca se notan detalles super bonitos, en especial el uso de tonos dorados. Me da la impresión de que los originales deben ser sorprendentes.
Le quite una estrella porque hay una parte que cuenta una historia inca y la ilustración tiene una llama y toda la cosa... con la piedra del sol mexica detrás. Se que al buscar un calendario inca aparecen muchas fotos de la piedra del sol, pero arruinó un poco esa sensación de estar aprendiendo cosas nuevas, como que me dejó la idea de que a lo mejor todo lo demás también tenía sus detalles. Al final, puede impulsar a investigar por cuenta propia... Puede ser el silver lining, supongo.
El libro tiene texto grande y las ilustraciones se ven como para público muy joven, pero al mirarlas de cerca se notan detalles super bonitos, en especial el uso de tonos dorados. Me da la impresión de que los originales deben ser sorprendentes.
Le quite una estrella porque hay una parte que cuenta una historia inca y la ilustración tiene una llama y toda la cosa... con la piedra del sol mexica detrás. Se que al buscar un calendario inca aparecen muchas fotos de la piedra del sol, pero arruinó un poco esa sensación de estar aprendiendo cosas nuevas, como que me dejó la idea de que a lo mejor todo lo demás también tenía sus detalles. Al final, puede impulsar a investigar por cuenta propia... Puede ser el silver lining, supongo.
January 19, 2023
This book is gorgeous. The foiled cover kept catching my eye at Fabled, one of my favorite independent bookstores, and I finally bought it for myself as a Christmas present!
The stories are a bit brief and surface-level for my taste-- maybe intended for a younger audience than I normally read. I wish the tales were all twice as long and in depth. But I did love the variety of tales from around the world.
The true stars of this book are the illustrations. They all have such eye catching pattern-work and are textured with what looks like gorgeous gold leaf or pottery. Stunning.
I enjoyed reading this one before bed this week.
The stories are a bit brief and surface-level for my taste-- maybe intended for a younger audience than I normally read. I wish the tales were all twice as long and in depth. But I did love the variety of tales from around the world.
The true stars of this book are the illustrations. They all have such eye catching pattern-work and are textured with what looks like gorgeous gold leaf or pottery. Stunning.
I enjoyed reading this one before bed this week.
April 30, 2022
I was skeptical at first that I would not get the research material I needed out of this book because it was geared for children, but was I was wrong! I thoroughly enjoyed every page and was pleasantly impressed with all the table of contents had to offer. Each constellation tale was unique, had many themes, and written in an flowing narrative. The author found a perfect balance between stories on similar stars and the sun compared to other constellations. And the ART!!! Each page was better than the last mixing brilliant gold and bold colors to appropriately portray the myths of the stars.
October 5, 2020
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, both in the writing, illustrations and overall concept of this book. I enjoyed reading the tales I was familiar with as well as learning new stories from around the globe. My only wish is that there were even more lesser known myths in the book; there are seven tales from Ancient Greece alone, yet only three stories from Asia. As an Australian, it was wonderful to see Aboriginal Dreamtime stories written with respect and beauty amidst this treasury of tales.
October 23, 2020
This was a lot of work and in the end I did not finish it. There were a lot of stories about the same stars/constellation's. The stories themselves also seemed very brief, more like a summary of the actual story. The book itself looks really pretty, which is why I wanted yo read it, but in the end it was just a lot of work and didn't interest me enough to finish.
December 25, 2020
The illustrations here are gorgeous; unfortunately, the writing doesn't live up to them. The Greek stories are all told better in D'Aulaires, and the others are haphazard snapshots of cultures with no context into the wider mythology. They don't read aloud with any real rhythm, and any kid with the skills to read something this text-heavy can read something better.
May 5, 2022
I really love books like this one, which explore different folklore and stories from different cultures. This book specifically touched on some of the stories different cultures have for the constellations. They were grouped by region/culture, but since some constellations are repeated it might have been better to format them by constellation and showcase the either varying stories, or how some stories are similar. Still, I really loved the way the stories were written, which would be perfect to read out loud, and the art was beautiful.
December 16, 2023
While this covers only a few, select (main) constellation stories from the viewpoints of different mythologies on the various continents, this is my favorite book on the subject so far. The stories are fleshed out, written in interesting story form, and quite engaging. 5 stars. I’ll be buying this book to go along with our constellation unit study.
April 27, 2024
Such a fun and beautifully illustrated collection of stories. I loved learning not only the different ways people see the stars, but also about the different cultures the stories came from. The artwork doesn't disappoint either; so beautiful. I have been sharing this book with a lot of friends lately and we have all agreed that this is a great collection of star stories and culture.
December 27, 2020
Keby som mala hodnotiť čisto príbehy tak by to asi boli 4*, ale tie ilustrácie sú také úžasné, že by som si ich najradšej všetky zarámovala a rozvešala po stenách, takže je to s čistým svedomím plný počet.
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May 30, 2021The illustrations are lovely, but the retellings feel stilted and incomplete. While there is an illustration showing the shape of the constellation, I think more information as to where and when they each can be viewed in the night sky would've been helpful.
February 22, 2023
Príbehy z rôznych kútov sveta doplňujú nádherné ilustrácie. Čítame ako rozprávky na dobrú noc a u detí mali príbehy úspech. Ak ste milovníkmi fantázie a na nebi vidíte viac, ako len zhluky hviezd, choďte smelo do toho :)
July 11, 2023
Za mna OK, len Lukymu vadilo, ze sa kazdy pribeh koncil "a potom ho bohovia vyniesli na oblohu" :D
January 1, 2024
This is stunning!! the stories and artwork, my favorites are the Navajo and Maori
March 26, 2024
The illustrations were fun, but the story telling was just okay.
January 9, 2025
I absolutely loved this book. It was absolutely fascinating to read the stories people all over the world had about the constellations.
December 4, 2018
Как и многие книги издательства МИФ - эта очень красочная и изумительно оформленная книга. Покупала для чтения ребенку, но зачиталась и сама. Что приятно- истории небольшие, как сказки. Иллюстрации и их печать на высоте. Иной рази правда думаешь, что золотом отливает ;) Прекрасный подарочный вариант на любой возраст.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews