A Book, Too, Can Be a Star: The Story of Madeleine L’Engle and the Making of A Wrinkle in Time

The subject’s granddaughter, Voiklis, and author Adams open this idealistic picture book biography of Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) with the subject’s earliest memory: being awakened and shown the magnificent night sky, and realizing “that there was more to her world than daytime and ordinary things.” As an only child growing up in New York City, L’Engle watched her writer father and pianist mother practice ways “to tell a story, to ask questions, to answer the call of the stars.” Nearly translucent-feeling digital and gouache spreads by Lirius incorporate the fantasies that animated a young L’Engle—castles, dragons, and always the stars—alongside her probing questions (“What are my gifts?”). After marriage, a family camping trip to the Painted Desert inspires A Wrinkle in Time, a Newbery Award–winning triumph initially rejected by many publishers. Fans of L’Engle’s works will find inspiration to ask big questions of their own in this limited telling of the subject’s interests and inquiries. Detailed back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)