A Place Where Stars Rest

Commissioned by the French city of Grenoble as a gift to each baby born there in 2004, this creation by Komagata is both visual drama and literary work. Each line of a quiet, airy poem about the stars appears in English, French, and Japanese; small letters, faint type, and silvery ink make the lines look a little like constellations themselves. “A place where stars rest,” the text begins, as a single silver foil star soars across the page; “Far, far beyond the mountains, there is a place where stars rest.” In the pages that follow, embossing and die-cuts, among other embellishments, show elements discussed (“They change slowly, like leaves changing color in the autumn” is accompanied by the shape of a bound-in leaf). Throughout, simile-laden lines extol the beauty of the stars and trace their movement until night gives way to dawn. It’s a fresh and surprising volume that blurs the boundary between text and illustration. Ages 1–4. (Sept.)