How to Catch a Star - Oliver Jeffers

...I bought, my favourite is How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.

***Who is Oliver Jeffers?***
Oliver Jeffers, born in Western Australia but brought up in Belfast is a talented Artist, Designer, Illustrator and Writer - apparently he can play the spoons too! He studied and earned his first-class honours degree in Illustration and Visual Communication at University of Ulster.

As an artist he has enjoyed a great ...
...career in Children's books with How to Catch a Star being published in 2004. Amazingly, his debut as a children's picture book writer and illustrator saw him short-llisted for the Booktrust Early Years Award for Best new Illustrator. It also went on to win a Merit Award at the CBI/Bisto Book of the Year Awards.

Jeffers follow-up, Lost and Found received similar admiration and critical acclaim winning the Gold Award at Nestle Children's ... more

Author/Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: Philomel
Publish Date: June 2004
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Pages: 32
Age Suitability: 3-5
RRP: £5.99 (I got it as a 3 for 2 deal from ELC)

This weekend my 2 year old informed me that we hadn't bought new books for a while - it had been a whole 8 days since I bought him three new books, and that we needed to go out and buy more. Being a mother keen to encourage my son and his love of reading, I agreed to take him into town to pick up a new book. As it turned out, the 3 for 2 offer at Early Learning Centre proved too much temptation and I left the store with three. I am sure many of you are screaming "Get a library card" and I cannot argue with this common sense except that I love walking into my boy's room and seeing shelves packed with his very own books. Of course, at this rate, we may find ourselves in a deluxe cardboard box somewhere with only his books to keep us warm!

Out of the three books I bought, my favourite is How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.

***Who is Oliver Jeffers?***
Oliver Jeffers, born in Western Australia but brought up in Belfast is a talented Artist, Designer, Illustrator and Writer - apparently he can play the spoons too! He studied and earned his first-class honours degree in Illustration and Visual Communication at University of Ulster.

As an artist he has enjoyed a great deal of success even seeing 16 paintings sold on the opening night of his Boys at the Bar exhibition in Belfast. He was also commissioned by Lavazza Coffee Company to paint for their Headquarters and to illustrate their Christmas Cards which led to his work being displayed at the Aroma Coffee Festival at the rocks in Sydney in front of thousands of people. What made this exhibition even more interesting was that Jeffers illustrated on site using only coffee rings and black ink.

At just 29 years of age, Jeffers has only just begun his career in Children's books with How to Catch a Star being published in 2004. Amazingly, his debut as a children's picture book writer and illustrator saw him short-llisted for the Booktrust Early Years Award for Best new Illustrator. It also went on to win a Merit Award at the CBI/Bisto Book of the Year Awards.

Jeffers follow-up, Lost and Found received similar admiration and critical acclaim winning the Gold Award at Nestle Children's Book Prize in 2005 and being short-listed for the Kate Greenway Medal.

***What's it all about?***
How to Catch a Star is a wonderfully magical story of a little boy named Oliver who loves the stars and longs to have one of his very own to play with and walk on the beach with. On day, as he watches the sky from his window, he decides to try to catch one.

He sits patiently and waits all through the day until the first star finally appears in the sky just as the sun goes down. Oliver tries to reach up to it but can't. He tries climbing the tallest tree but is still too small to reach the star. He even asks a seagull for help but is met with nothing more than the birds stubborn refusal to get involved.

Just as Oliver is beginning to loose hope he notices a beautiful star floating along in the sea. It is the most beautiful star Oliver has ever seen before and although he can't reach it, he decides to wait for the sea to wash it up onto the beach. Eventually his starfish does wash up onto the beach and a happy Oliver and the star walk off home hand in hand.

***So how did I find the story?***
I loved it! Not only was this a lovely story, it was written in a very endearing, child-friendly manner with a dollop of humour for the parents. Oliver's determination is a fantastic example to set for kids and shows children that if you put the effort in, you will reap the rewards, which we all need reminding of from time to time. It also illustrates that the simple things in life can be important and sometimes more gratifying. After reading this story I took my son to the window, at his request so he could look into the sky to find a star. It wasn't quite dark so we weren't too successful, but he was so excited I have promised to let him stay up a bit later tonight so we can look for his very own star.

***So were the pictures good?***
Jeffers illustrates beautifully. I can quite easily imagine his paintings and his work translates well into children's books. His style is quite unique. He deals in very simple shapes but uses texture and colour to embellish them. For instance, His trees look like circles placed on top of a line, much like a lollipop, but when the sort of watercolour patchwork painting is included, it comes to life. His scenes are quite baron but it works. You may only find a tree and a picture of Oliver stretched across a two page spread with nothing but beach in-between them, but nothing more is needed. He uses quite soft, earthy colours with the boldest colours being reserved for Oliver's red and white striped top. The evening/nigh-time light from the sky is illustrated perfectly through the warmth and glow of the colours and watery brushstrokes Jeffers has used. This makes it a great night-time read which will relax and sooth your child instead of exciting them so much they don't want to sleep.

***And all in all was it worth the money?***
A hundred times yes! I actually hope my son picks this to read again tonight, tomorrow night and the night after that! I will be keeping my fingers crossed that Oliver Jeffers puts out a thousand more books to entertain children and I pledge to buy them (not borrow from the library) each and every one! Kyle loves it, I love it and I am sure you and your little ones will love it too!

 

...less