A Net of Stars

When the carnival comes to town, Etta finds an ingenious way to overcome her fear of heights

Kindergarten-Grade 2?Haying time brings the midway to the timeless, rural American community in which the main character's family lives. In spite of this excitement, Etta is terrified to ride the Ferris wheel. To prepare herself, she climbs onto the chicken-coop roof, where she becomes stranded. An attempt to ride the wheel with her siblings is aborted, and Etta retreats in frustration: "Can't be brave. Can't! I hold on to Fiona as hard as I can and I start to cry. Big tears I cry. Big baby tears." Finally, looking out her window one night, the child has a revelation about the stars and is able to use it to help her overcome her fear of heights. The clear, simple prose is as suited to independent reading as it is to reading aloud. Luminous composition and effective delineation of character are the trademarks of Shed's realistic, full-color gouache paintings. Etta's determination is effectively captured by her posture as well as her words. The text and illustrations work in concert to deliver the essence of youthful discovery. The book will be cherished by children who are seeking courage and by those who have found it.?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This nostalgic picture book harks back to a time when girls wore dresses to the carnival, yet it delivers an ageless message about overcoming fear. When the midway comes to her rural community, Etta is determined that this time she will ride the Ferris wheel with her older brother and sister. But her resolve ("This year I'll be brave") disintegrates when she reaches the top, and she is humiliated when the attendant interrupts the ride to let her off ("Can't be brave. Can't!"). Jacobson's evenly paced text transmutes the child's fear of the vast, empty sky through a poetic image: when Etta learns that constellations are formed from invisible lines that connect the stars, she takes an imaginative leap that, if she should tumble from the top of the Ferris wheel, the nearby stars will form a net to catch her. Shed's (Dandelions) sun-drenched and moonlit paintings depict the girls' cottony white dresses against the carnival's muted olives, mauves and rust, and the hazy light of still summer days and soft night breezes, slowing the narrative to a delicious drawl. Young readers conquering anxieties of their own will want to linger over this comforting drama. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A child finds a way to get past her fear of heights in this sensitive, well-knit episode. When the carnival sets up nearby, Etta announces that this is the year that she will ride the Ferris wheel. In a preliminary test of her resolve, she climbs to the top of the chicken coop, and is frozen by the deep, empty sky. Later, at the carnival, she joins her older brother and sister aboard the ride, but only for a moment. That night, her sister Fiona shows her the constellations, and that proves to be the key; on the following night Etta rides the wheel alone, and sees the stars as a safety net. Jacobson conveys a realistic sense of Etta's vertigo, as well as a credible tactic for dealing with it. In Shed's hazy, golden-toned paintings, the carnival and the farm children are washed in summery light; Etta's intense satisfaction is written across her face in the penultimate scene, and readers will feel it with her. (Picture book. 5-7) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.