Once Upon a Star: The Story of Our Sun

Once Upon A Star is a poetic journey through space written by James Carter and wonderfully illustrated by Mar Hernandez. The text allows learning about space and the history of the solar system to be covered in a fun and engaging way. The illustrations are bright and vibrant and really help deliver the information well. The poetic text allows the book to flow and you feel like you are drifting through the pages easily. With very few words, it would be easy for James Carter to focus only on the scientific language but he manages to convey the information in a mix of technical and creative vocabulary. This book would be great to use in EYFS and KS1 classes when beginning to learn about space and the solar system but also as a good introduction to 'The Big Bang'. Work can be focused not only on the science of space but also on the rhyming vocabulary used throughout. Once Upon a Raindrop follows suit by taking a poetic approach to teaching an area of science. This time, we learn about the origins of water and how our water cycle works. James Carter's narrative takes the reader on a wonderful journey across the skies, lands and seas and is superbly accompanied by Nomoco's striking, dynamic and beautiful watercolour illustrations. This text fully supports the curriculum subject of water, and also showcases playful, rhythmic poetry. This book, just like Once upon a Star, is perfect to read aloud to a group of children. Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Kyle Matravers, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+