Hmmm… Girl receives the message from a star that comes to visit her – at one point it will stay until all the children of the earth realise their inner shine, the next it doesn't matter that nobody believes Zoe when she tells them about it. The moonstar then helps a refugee kid from the Ukraine war, and it crashes to a halt. I think the illustrator came out of this experience with a better entry to their CV – the cod-hippie, cod-religious, cod-mumbo-jumbo of the moonstar didn't do much for me, and the book got very wordy for a young audience by the end.

Moonstar Visits Zoe
Amet Xhelili
‘Nithini Wathsala, Illustrator
Truly Magical Stories
July 4, 2022

A lovely children’s story about a little girl and a star called, “Moonstar.” The star is between the moon and Earth and shines brightly into Zoe’s room. Moonstar’s message is to love yourself and others. Zoe listens to Moonstar and tells others. She also helps a little boy who is sad because he is separated from his father because of the Ukraine war.

Written clearly, the book speaks to children and helps them learn that sometimes crying makes one feel better. The illustrations are beautiful and add wonder and delight to the book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Truly Magical Stories for accepting my request to read and review Moonstar Visits Zoe.

Author: Amet Xhelili
Published: 07/04/22
Genre: Children's Fiction

The illustrations are varied. There were pages that caught my eye and changed the tone of the story' while other pages were okay.

The story was long, and didn't work for me.

I liked the idea of looking at a star and reacting; I didn't care for the star talking. As in the story, it created problems and heartache.

This picture book tells the story of a little girl named Zoe who is sad in her room one night when a special star speaks to her. The star helps her feel better. She tries telling her kindergarten classmates about the star and is laughed at, but eventually she uses her understanding and the messages from the star to help a friend who is sad. The illustrations are nice and colourful. At times the font is a bit hard to see when it is overtop of illustrations, and there is quite a bit of text on some pages, but for the most part it is relatively clear and legible. I would recommend this book for children in the age 4-7 range. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This is such a cute heartfelt chapter book which deals with how to make kids deal with emotions especially when they are sad and do not know how to express themselves.

The pages are so well presented. Colourful and looks like a perfect dream. The illustrations are charming.

Well done.

Thank you, Truly Magical Stories, for the copy.