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Customer Reviews for WaterBrook Press Little Star
WaterBrook Press Little Star
Little Star is ignored by his fellow luminaries in the sky, but he knows a secret...the child of a lowly carpenter is really the Son of God. As his heart blazes forth with light and love, he gives himself to the newborn king. A delightful story about the star of Bethlehem! Illustrated by Mark Elliott; 40 pages, hardcover from Waterbrook. Ages 4-8.
Average Customer Rating:
(18 Reviews) 18
Rating Snapshot (18 reviews)
5 stars
13
4 stars
4
3 stars
0
2 stars
1
1 star
0
17 out of 1894%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Little Star
Review 1 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Favorite book
Date:December 5, 2011
Woohoo
Location:Phillips, WI
Age:35-44
Gender:female
This is my son's new favorite book. We are really enjoying reading it and the message it shares, especially since it's from a different view point.
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Review 2 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
This book is a wonderful tp explain Christmas.
Date:October 28, 2011
Joni Heldibridle
Location:Hanover, PA
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
The book is a great edtion to a Christmas library.
Beautifully illustrated and written to spark wonderment in the hearts and minds of the children and perhaps adults too :) I intend to use it in my outreach ministry.
Beautifully illustrated and written to spark wonderment in the hearts and minds of the children and perhaps adults too :) I intend to use it in my outreach ministry.
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Review 3 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Heartwarming story to match illustrations!
Date:March 14, 2011
witheagerhands
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
We opened our box as soon as the mailman came, and the kids immediately wanted to read it -- I didn't even have time to find the camera! The book is a hardback, which is a necessity in these parts. The cover was of quick interest to the younger three. The colors are dreamy and warm, and the image got us talking about what the story might be about.
The story opens with a young bog and his father, and it draws the reader in quickly, when the father begins the story of Little Star. There is a competition for the brightest shining star for the new king, but the baby in the manger is quite a disappointment star clan.
All except for Little Star.
We all enjoyed the story, though the ending was quite a surprise! As a family, we were split with how it ended - some of us thought the ending was necessary to make the point, but the other half (those that can speak, anyway) thought it was abrupt, and in the words of my 10 year old, just "wrong." Either way, it makes for good dialogue.
We read the book again and again and again, proof that it is a good book. Little Star sees the new family in the stable for who they are, and he remains. And shines!
Without giving too much away, the book carries a wonderful message for the Christmas holiday, but also for Christian living - Shine for Jesus!
We are always on the lookout for books that honor God during the season of Christmas - that make Him the focus. This book is one that we are glad to have in our book basket this coming Christmas -- I hope that you will consider adding it to yours!
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Review 4 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Good teaching tool for little ones
Date:March 6, 2011
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
The book Little Star by Anthony DeStefano is a book that is destined to become a Christmas standard for me. The book, published by WaterBrook Press is a poignant story about a star who was the smallest star in the sky. The story of Little Star is told by a father to his young son about a star who was very sad. His sadness had its origin in the fact that Little Star was completely ignored by all of the other stars simply because he was so small and could add little to the night sky.
It quickly becomes apparent to the reader that Little Star became the star that shone to herald the birth of Jesus. He gave his all to shine for that one special night so that the baby Jesus would be warm. He worked so hard to shine that he gave his life, completely burned himself out, and was seen no more. However, each Christmas he is remembered as people all around the world place a star at the top of their Christmas trees.
The artwork in this story, while quite simplistic, is very appealing and will attract the attention of a small child. Even small children can readily see the lessons that are taught in this simple little tale. One lesson is that, no matter how small or insignificant we may feel, God can and will use us for His kingdom's work. Each of us has a gift of some sort that can be used for God's service. Another lesson that a young child can learn from Little Star is that God will richly reward those who are willing to dedicate themselves to Him.
This book is one that I look forward to sharing both with my grandsons and the kindergarten students at school next Christmas. This book is one that I look forward to sharing both with my grandsons and the kindergarten students at school next Christmas. While is is obvious that the book does not adhere to the Biblical account, it is plain that this is a work of fiction and is valuable in the lessons that it portrays. It is a timeless tale that can be told anew each year and the story will remain fresh and its lessons will remain relevant.
I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing as part of their Blogging for Books program. I was not obligated to provide a positive review and I received no compensation in return for my review.
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Review 5 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
What is True and What is Not
Date:February 19, 2011
Kayla
Age:18-24
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
3
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
1
out of
5
The store is a cute one. A little star, ignored by the bigger stars around him, shines down on Baby Jesus to warm him. Unfortunately, because this star is so little, he burns himself out in the process. There are morals in this story, such as giving up ourselves for others (particularly Jesus), and that little "people" can do big things too. I was impressed especially by how DeStefano explains why Jesus was born in a stable and not in a palace - so He could "show all people of the world that He loved them."
Unfortunately, it isn't cute enough for me to recommend it. I'm a stickler for accuracy, and this book buys into much of the "post-Francis of Assisi" inaccuracies associated with the nativity: Mary riding a donkey and a "shabby stable" portrayal. Mary and Joseph are pictured as white/caucasian, and Baby Jesus has a halo around His head. Another issue I had was that the star was there to guide the wise men to Jesus (and He was anywhere from a newborn to age 2 at that time), not to provide Him warmth. These aspects of the story are presented as truth, but are fictional in nature... So I cannot recommend this book.
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Review 6 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Great Christmas Book!
Date:February 17, 2011
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Little Star by Anthony DeStefano is a wonderful Christmas book that I look forward to reading many times to my children in the coming years. My 2-year-old has requested this book 5 times in the past 30 minutes since we have first read it! He loves it and so do I.
This book is a cute perspective from the little star that shone so bright in the sky on the night Jesus was born. This star was lonely and ignored by all the others. The star that shone the brightest on the night Jesus was born would get a prize. However, all of the other stars were fooled when Jesus was born as a baby in a stable because they thought he would be born a real king in a palace. However, the little star knew that this WAS Jesus and he shown as brightly as he could to keep Jesus warm in the stable. He burned so bright he burned himself out. He was so full of love and joy for Jesus. But don't worry! The star isn't gone...he's on top of our Christmas tree every year.
I definitely recommend this book for any child!
___________________
I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah through their Blogging for Books program for their book review. I was in no way required to write a positive review for this book.
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Review 7 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
I highly recommend this book.
Date:January 16, 2011
just4marshel
Location:Oklahoma
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
My choice of book to review was Little Star by Anthony DeStefano. I wanted a book that I could share with my grandchildren It arrived in time for me to be able to read it to them, just before Christmas Eve. I was excited to have a new book to read to them. Since I do not read the traditional Santa story books to them I was glad there was a book that discussed Jesus instead. It was not based on the nativity scene or how Mary and Joseph had to have their baby in a stable. It was written from a different view on the star. Even though it does not end in the way I would have hoped, I still will include this book each year as part of a new tradition with my grandchildren. A book that can add to family tradition is rated very high in my opinion.
Before giving you a brief summary of what I enjoyed about the story, I want to give also give credit to the illustrator. The pictures in the book are absolutely a brilliant work of art. The people are so life-like and the stars have been given personalities. The illustrations are a pleasure along with the story.
The main characters are a father and son and they are discussing what happened to the Christmas star. The father explains to his son that it is no longer in the sky for viewing. He then explains what happened to him...
There would be a reward for the star who could shine the brightest on the night the baby king was born. Being the littlest, Little Star sadly thught he would not stand a chance to win the reward.
When the other star noticed the baby was born in a stable, they did not think it was worthy of a king and felt disappointed. But Little Star realized it was the king and that he chose to be born this way because to show people he loved them no matter how small or poor they were. Little Star was the only one that understood who the baby was and used all of his light to warm the cold stable. The other stars were worried about Little Star because he was burning brighter and brighter and would burn himself out. He did not hear their warning and only knew he wanted to keep the baby Jesus warm. When dawn came Little Star was gray and dim.
The son was sad, but the father told him that Little Star would always be remembered because people all over the world place a star on top of their trees at Christmas. The son looked up at his own tree and smiled.
My grandchildren are 4 and 6. They did not understand the full meaning of the story just by me reading it. But that is the wonderful part of reading to children. You can teach them where they are at the time of their age. This year I explained the whole story, but next year they will understand it more and each year they will gain even more from it. I was able to share the Bible's version of the star and the stable etc. We also discussed other concepts such as no matter how little or young you are God has given you a special gift to use to help Jesus and His Kingdom. We discussed how Jesus taught in parables and the story of Little Star was a parable.
I will enjoy sharing this book for years to come. I am a very sentimental person, so I do need a facial tissue to finish it. I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for giving this review on Blogging for Books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.
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Review 8 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Clearly communicates simple truths
Date:January 8, 2011
Whitney
Location:Kansas City, MO
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Please note: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
Little Star is a Christmas tale for children written by Anthony DeStefano. Narrated by a father speaking to his child, the book details the story of a small star that is ignored by all of the other stars. A special contest occurs when a great king is to be born on earth. When all the other stars see the lowliness of this baby’s birth, they turn away. Little Star is the only one able to understand this humble baby’s birth and out shines all the other stars, eventually shining himself to death (literally) for Jesus’ birth.
The story is not long and was received well by my son who is almost three. The most appealing part of this book is that it is great for articulating to small children about the humble nature of Christ’s birth. The book explains in simple terms that Jesus came in a very humble way so that he could identify with us, making this a good tool for communicating one of the many beautiful parts of the Christmas story. This truth touches Little Star deeply and is what moves him to shine so bright.
The only thing that may trouble some with the story is that it mixes clear Biblical truth about Christ’s birth with a legend about a talking star. It may be important to discern whether your child can understand the difference between the imaginary and the real. I certainly have no problem with books about talking stars at any age, but I do think it is important that we are careful with how we use make-believe when presenting the weightiest truths we have to share with our child.
Overall, this book is a good tool for teaching young children, and a sweet tale that they are likely to enjoy!
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Review 9 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
A new Christmas addition for our family!
Date:January 2, 2011
rkhurff
Location:Woodbury Heights, NJ
Age:35-44
Gender:female
I received Little Star by Anthony DeStefano to review from WaterBrook Press through their Blogging for Books program. I received it just in time to read to my first grade son at Christmas time. It is an endearing story about a Little Star who, being the smallest star, was lonely and felt neglected, but on the day that Jesus was born, that Little Star used all his strength and shined his light on the baby Jesus so he could be warm. This story is being told to a little boy by his father.
I loved this story and so did my son. I would recommend it to anyone with young children. It is really a nice story about the tradition of putting a star on your Christmas tree to remember the star that shined down on the baby Jesus. This book will definitely be added to our "must read" books for Christmas next year.
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Review 10 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Good morals for my daughter
Date:December 31, 2010
Rgkitty76
Location:Trenton, Fl
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
3
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
I wanted to read a good story with morals and value to my daughter. Happy with this book.
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Review 11 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Start a new tradition in your home at Christmas
Date:December 30, 2010
Gammy
Location:PA
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
I saw this on web with Pat Boone reading it and knew I needed it in our home for Pappy to read to his grandchildren to begin a new family tradition - heartwarming story - so happy you had it available -
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Review 12 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Great book but please consider a non-anglo version
Date:December 27, 2010
donald
Location:New Mexico
Age:35-44
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Another great resource but I'd like to urge the authors and artists to consider being more open to having minority kids included in the illustrations. It seems that almost every resource we get from Christian sources has anglo kids as main characters. I'm not into all the multiculturalism/diversity activism but it is tough when I open yet another wonderful book to read to my son that has blonde haired blue eyed kids as main characters.
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Review 13 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Date:December 24, 2010
Diane Johnson
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
My 5 yr. old grandson loves this book he wants it read again and again. He reads the book to me also.
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Review 14 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Great for the Little Ones
Date:December 18, 2010
S Cart
Location:Lorain, Ohio
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
This time of year it is always wonderful to cuddle up with your little one and read a special book together.
If you're looking for a great Christmas book that puts the focus of Christmas back on to CHRIST, then <i>Little Star</i> by Anthony DeStefano is a perfect choice.
This book talks about the reason why we put a star on the top of our Christmas trees this time of year. It also talks about Christ's birth and teaches the lessons of self-sacrifice and the true meaning of Christmas.
I loved reading this book with my little boy and it is one of the few ones that he sat and listened to. He enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures and hearing a new view on an amazing story. I can not recommend this book enough!
**A copy of <i>Little Star</i> by Anthony DeStefano was provided to be for review by <a href="http://waterbrookmultnomah.com">Waterbrook Press's </a>Blogging For Books program for free. All opinions are my own.**
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Review 15 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Sweet Christmas Story for Grandchildren
Date:December 13, 2010
SandwichINK
Location:USA
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Little Star, by Anthony DeStefano and Mark Elliott, is a "hot off the press" Christmas book that I received for free from the publishers so I could review it for you. It's written for a bit younger child than my nearby grandkids, but is just right for my long distance grandchildren which is where it's headed in it's Priority Mail package. This is a cute little book about a tiny, somewhat unwanted, star who gets to watch the birth of Jesus. The other stars couldn't understand why Jesus was being born in a stable and even started thinking they were wrong about Him being the king. Only the tiny star understood the message God was sending to the world. He realized that now Jesus would really understand the small and the weak and he wanted to give his all to the new king, to keep Him warm, even if it meant "burning himself out." It's definitely a great conversation starter for surrendering ourselves to God fully, that a child can understand. And the pictures are just gorgeous! I'm looking forward to reading it with them during our Advent activities for grandparents and grandchildren.
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Review 16 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Date:December 7, 2010
Chris
Given that we have three young children, one of the things that we enjoy during this season is to pull out all of our special Christmas movies and books and enjoy them as a family. I think what makes these movies and books so special is that we typically only watch or read them once per year, during the Christmas holiday. Just the other night we had the opportunity to welcome a new book into the rotation; Little Star by Anthony DeStefano.
Little Star tells the story of the nativity from the perspective of the stars up in the sky. One of those stars is much smaller than the others, doesn’t burn quite as bright, and for the most part feels downcast, left out, and forgotten. The other stars don’t necessarily make fun of him. They simply ignore him because he is so tiny. In fact, he is the smallest star in the heavens.
The stars have heard a rumor that was around for ages that a star was to be born on earth and that the king would have a special message that would change the world forever. They also heard that the star that shined the brightest on the night he was born would receive a special reward. All the stars were ready and primed to burn brightly for the coming king.
The moment they had all been waiting for finally arrived however, the stars were not shining brightly because they were too busy feeling fooled. You see, the lowly circumstances under which Jesus was born did not match up to their expectations for how a king would arrive into the world. In fact, they not only felt fooled but they were even disappointed. All that is, except Little Star.
You see, Little Star could relate. Little Star understood that although little, Jesus is a king. Little Star knew that Jesus could have been born in a palace surrounded by riches but instead, he had humbled himself to be born in a stable. Jesus wanted to make a statement in the way that he entered the world. Little Star understood that the king’s message was love.
As he realized all of this, Little Star couldn’t help but burn as brightly as he possibly could. Despite the other stars warning him that he would burn out, Little Star continued to burn brighter and brighter. He was not focused on anything except the little child in the stable.
Although Little Star did burn out, he is not gone. To this day, people all over the world place a star on top of their Christmas tree to remember him. And that is the story of Little Star.
The story, accompanied by the wonderful illustrations of Mark Elliott, is written in a creative way that is sure to maintain the interest of young children through early elementary school age. My concerns about the focus being diverted from Jesus to Little Star was put to rest when, after reading the story I asked my kids about what stood out to them the most. Their answer was that the story reminded them of Jesus and encouraged them to shine brightly for Him. I hope you will be encouraged to do that as well.
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Review 17 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
sweet Christmas book
Date:December 4, 2010
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
We have a large collection of Christmas picture books, ranging from silly “fluff” to “classics” that I will keep for my grandchildren. My favorites are those that tell the story of Jesus’ birth in a way that touches children and adults alike. Beautiful illustrations are a plus, as well.
Little Star is a book that falls into that category. The Christmas story is told from the perspective of the star, who watches Mary and Joseph from the sky, feels sorry for their struggles, and loves the baby Jesus so much that he gave himself for Him. The story is a simple retelling of the birth of Jesus and a tale of a little star who was considered insignificant by the other stars, but it also addresses Jesus’ choice to be born in humble circumstances instead of coming to earth as a King and even foreshadows Jesus’ sacrifice for mankind.
I think Little Star would be an excellent addition to any family’s collection of Christmas stories. It is a story that will engage any 3 to 8 year old and one that children will understand at a deeper level as they age.
I received a free review copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. All opinions are my own.
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Review 18 for Little Star
Overall Rating:
Beautifully illustrated
Date:November 1, 2010
Amazingsix
Location:Arizona
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
The book is about a King that is about to be born. The stars in heaven are competing as to who will shine the brightest to celebrate his birth. But when they see the poor family, the donkey, the stable, the stars don't believe he is the king. One little star does.
This book is beautifully illustrated on every page, and definitely a great book to read to your kids or give as a gift!
Last night my husband read the book to our kids in bed and they got into the story, was happy for the star, and then sad until they saw how it ended and rejoiced. They completely got into and loved all the pictures. It was a hit with our little group! What a great present to get for your child, little family member or friend for Christmas!
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