The Star That Fell by Karen Hales and Cliff Wright

This picture book with beautiful life-like water colour illustrations caught my eye at a second-hand bookstore. Published by Ladybird, I was immediately curious to see if the story is as good as it looks.

The story begins with:

"One night a star fell..."

and we are taken on the little star's adventure in the woods as it meets different animals who do different things with it.

Finally, the star is brought to a little girl named Maddy. After a chat with her father, Maddy makes an incredibly selfless move that leads to a happy ending for all.

Children will learn about animals' habits and habitats while adults will enjoy reading the book aloud with their kids.

Most importantly, a child will take delight in the animals the bright star meets in its adventure and the little girl's actions when she finds it.

An excellent "do-the-right-thing" book without sonding preachy.

Knowing that this 1996 book is now out-of-print has made my used copy more precious. I only wish that the previous owner (or the parents) had the sense not to deface the book cover with a crude felt tip pen drawing of a face on the star!