To say Oliver Jeffers, authorstrator and artist, is well known for his picture books is an understatement. Thanks to his award-winning creations that bring out the myriad possibilities of the picture book, he has gained the freedom to experiment with form as well. His latest offering, Where to Hide a Star, is about twice the length of a standard picture book. It is a delicate and deeply felt story of friendship and loss, set in a science fantasy world.
The protagonist is a boy who ‘loses’ one of his friends, the Star, during a game of hide and seek. He and his other friend, a penguin, set off to rescue it, only to find that the Star has made a new friend. Both the Star’s old friend and new friend are dismayed. What now?
There is a shimmering intangibility to this fantastical story arc. It lingered in my mind and kept me coming back to the narrative, both its words and its sensitively drawn pictures with their gentle colour palette. The layers of meaning are best revealed (or created) over multiple readings, giving rise to reflections on the nature of friendship, loss and even freedom and belonging. Who does a Star belong to, really? And where does it belong?
For fans of fantastical worlds and tales that are more than they seem. This book is a sequel to How to Catch a Star, Lost and Found, The Way Back Home and Up and Down.
