Finding Your Stars

Written by Carolyn Morris

Illustrated by Lena Lee

978-1-7778356-0-6

38 pp.

Ages 3-8

November 2022

 May you be gentle with your clouds and generous with your stars.

 

With those wise words in her dedication, author Carolyn Morris begins her rhyming story to help children see that the strengths and positives in their lives will sometimes be accompanied or even overshadowed by challenges and weaknesses. Both are part of who we are.

We each have stars

inside that glow.

They're special skills

and games we know.

From Finding Your Stars by Carolyn Morris, illus. by Lena Lee

But, sometimes we fall, or we fail, and clouds move in. 

Your clouds are worries,

flaws and fears.

They cover your stars

in gloom and tears.

From Finding Your Stars by Carolyn Morris, illus. by Lena Lee

Young children will understand about clouds covering up their stars. They know what it's like to feel less than shiny. Whether it's because of a friendship gone wrong, a test failed, or family disappointments, the stars and the clouds get into a tug of war. Carolyn Morris suggests that whatever the child focuses on will become stronger. (There's a sweet tug-of-war game between a blue cloud and a golden star in which the cloud cheers its win.) By focusing on the clouds, even if only to dispel them, you give them power to spread "their fears, their faults, their pain." Acknowledging them is fine–"But, if you greet the storm, then spin, back to your stars"–but you should turn back to the stars who will help lift you up. And as you're lifted, you see more stars.

So don't forget how

bright you are,

Embrace your clouds,

then shine those stars.

Most of us get mired in our worries and fears. It's human nature to focus on the negatives because they're consuming. If things are going well, you don't attend those aspects because they aren't of concern. But Toronto author Carolyn Morris isn't necessarily telling us to ignore those "clouds"; instead she's suggesting that it's okay to acknowledge them but then focus on the positives as these are the things that will help you come out from the shadow of the clouds. The message is a simple one but, by creating an analogy with stars and clouds, Carolyn Morris helps kids see that trying to get rid of the clouds is impossible and that the stars will not always be shining. However, you can enjoy the shine of the stars and give the clouds a rest to float on by, which they will almost always do.

From Finding Your Stars by Carolyn Morris, illus. by Lena Lee

Lena Lee who illustrated Finding Your Stars gives the story an ephemeral quality with watercolours and pale colours, reminding young readers graphically that clouds are unenduring. They may reappear intermittently and perhaps infrequently but they are transitory. The bolder stars, on the other hand, stick around a lot longer. I like that neither the clouds nor the stars are aggressively negative or positive; they just are. That is very much like the clouds and stars in our lives. Seldom are the clouds so onerous that they cannot be put aside temporarily or so threatening to our stars that they cannot be managed. And children need to see that they often have the capacity to find their stars.

Here's to everyone finding their stars and weathering the clouds as they come and go.

 

⭐⛅⭐⛅⭐⛅⭐⛅⭐⛅ ⭐

 

Additional resources, including printable colouring pages, are available at findingyourstars.com and would be handy for parents and teachers who want to help young children.