The school-age child narrator and their parents used to live in a city, in an apartment with a star-shaped cardboard lamp in the kitchen window. “When I returned home from music lessons … I could recognize our window from afar: a star shone through the cold November darkness.” When war begins, the child and their mother flee to another country. Everything is different: the language, the apartment, the view from the window, the food. “Even Mom is different. Even I’m different.” Then the child’s mom brings home the makings of a star lamp, just like they had at their old home. They put the new star in the window, and things start to feel less different. “It still doesn’t feel like home here. But now, when I return home from music lessons, I recognize our window: a star shines through it….” A spare, skillful narrative captures feelings of comfort, displacement, and emerging hope—reflected in both a shift in perspective inspired by the new star, and the hint at some return to normalcy in the music lessons taking place once again. The marvelous, clean-lined illustrations masterfully convey both character emotions through posture, gesture, and facial expression, and the changing emotional tenor of the story with colors that go from vivid to somber and back again. An author’s note details her family’s displacement and search for home after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books About Families List (2024)

"Straightforward, heartfelt words and thin-lined, fully imagined drawings from Desnitskaya (On the Edge of the World) give tender voice to one child's refugee experience." -- Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)

"Encouraging empathy and understanding, this illuminating picture book offers a realistic account of finding oneself in a new place and shines a light on the healing power of hope." -- Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)

"A beautiful tale of loss and adjustment; for those who have never had to leave home, perhaps a lesson in insight and empathy. Highly recommended." -- School Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"Beautifully crafted and warmly empathetic." -- Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

A poignant story about a displaced family making a home in the aftermath of war.

We used to live in a big city. In our apartment window was a star-shaped lamp, shining through the cold. I could recognize home from far away. But then the war began, and we left for another country. Everything is different here--the food, the language, even Mom and me. Today Mom bought us a package of scissors, glue, and cardboard. Can we make this place feel a little more like home?

Narrated by a young refugee, A Star Shines Through is based on the experiences of the author-illustrator, who left Russia with her family after the start of the Ukraine War. With an evocative palette of blues and yellows, Anna Desnitskaya shows how making art can create a sense of hope, even amidst emigration and resettling.

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Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Award in Picture Books, Early Reader Finalist (2024)

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