Magic always occurs when a book’s narration and illustrations are perfectly matched. But an even more special kind of magic happens when the art goes beyond the written word and weaves a quiet message of its own. Comet & Star is a deceptively simple, genuinely sweet story about friendship with an underlying profundity that will touch even the grumpiest readers’ hearts.
Author Juck Lee starts this picture book like a sweet, classic fairytale. Juck’s narration, translated by Stine Su Yon An, is straightforward, if somewhat expected, and lovely as it tells the tale of a charmingly personified, lonely little star. Meanwhile, illustrator Jinhee Lee uses layered colored pencils and varying perspectives to the protagonist’s celestial home and the earth below.
The gentle-faced little star huddles against a quiet—and empty—space backdrop. High above windswept trees, it earnestly watches for new friends. One day, it meets a comet that passes by every 76 years, finally giving the star someone to connect with. Lee’s soft colored pencil art is full of movement, warmth and emotion; this is a humble little story that is easy to like.
But Lee’s art tells a second story, too: As the comet and star’s friendship unfolds in the skies, their lives are also being carefully documented below through newspaper clippings, photographs and notebooks filled with drawings. Taped sketches, dried leaves and notes of natural observations mark the passing of time and the careful attention of someone who is also watching and waiting. After several rereadings of Comet & Star, a realization hit this reviewer like a comet. The star waits for its only friend to return every 76 years, but here on Earth, it has admirers it could never have imagined—in a sense, friends who observe and love from miles away. That’s the true message of Comet & Star: For every friend you see, there are countless others thinking of you.
Whether you need a gift for an old friend you rarely see, or a bedtime story for a little one who loves to watch the night sky, Comet & Star is the perfect choice. Just like Halley’s Comet, books with this unique magic don’t stop by every day. Don’t miss it.
