Nova has an insatiable appetite for stars: "she glides through the galaxy slurping up stars at the speed of light... Her favorites? Red supergiants. Yummy and plump." Kim lightly anthropomorphizes Nova as a fiery, gaseous ball with just the hint of a face. When Nova eats the Sun ("a juicy yellow dwarf"), panic ensues on Earth, and astronauts plead with Nova to burp it up: "The Sun provides energy for plants to grow, light so we can see, and heat to keep us warm." On Earth, world leaders gather and discuss strategies for removing the sun from Nova, and the precocious child of the U.S. leader suggests that tickling Nova (with a giant robot arm) will cause the sun to pop out of her tummy. Long blocks of dialogue tend to clutter up the story, but Leslie stages a fun scenario that includes brief, science-based back matter. Ages 4--8. (May)

K-Gr 2-Roaming the spaceways, gulping stars from red supergiants on down, Nova swallows a juicy yellow dwarf and is taken aback by the storm of protest that rises from a pretty planet nearby: "The Sun is our star!" "The people on Earth need it to survive!" Considering that the snack has made her uncomfortably gassy (at both ends), Nova is more than willing to give it back-but how? Earth leaders from many countries (not, interestingly, including the U.S. or Russia) gather to confer, but even the idea of waiting "until it passes" seems risky. In Kim's big, glowing illustrations human figures are a young, diverse lot and Nova (presumably a black hole, though never identified as such) is portrayed as an immense but nebulous sphere with anthropomorphic features. The winning ploy, suggested by a child, turns out to be tickling Nova with Earthly winds and treetops, plus a very large hand fortuitously carried aboard a human spacecraft. Putting the Sun back where she found it, Nova departs for Orion's Belt and a closing twist (".is this your star?" "Nurz, zeets nehs." "Fantastic!"), both figuratively and literally dark. Though science truly takes a backseat here, the Earthlings' explanations of what the Sun does for our planet are right-on, and an afterword adds further facts about our local star and fellow planets. VERDICT A delicious astro-tale that provides lower primary grade audiences with glimpses of our place in space, capped with a zinger that will please Jon Klassen fans.-John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New York © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An imaginative tale and an informal astronomy lesson rolled into one book.Nova the star eater eats any star in sight: supergiants, white dwarfs, blue giants, binaries, you name it. On her way through space, she gulps Earth's sun, creating panic on the planet. The leaders of the world gather and dispatch their "best astronauts" to get their sun back. They plead with Nova: "The people on Earth need it to survive! The Sun provides energy for plants to grow, light so we can see, and heat to keep us warm." Back on Earth, leaders and scientists discuss how best to get the sun out of Nova when (slightly out of the blue) the (female) leader of the United States' daughter, a bright, young, brown-skinned girl, speaks into a microphone: "We could tickle her." Nova agrees, and so, using the ocean waves and treetops and aided by a spaceship's robotic arm, the Earth proceeds to tickle Nova. Leslie's narrative is somewhat arbitrary and clunky but will still entertain readers. Kim's illustrations incorporate vibrant colors when depicting the solar system, while humans back on Earth are rendered in taupe, browns, and greens (earth tones, appropriately enough). Seeing men and women leaders from around the globe and astronauts of various shades is wonderfully refreshing. An author's note on the science behind the story punctuates the book; a small glossary is also provided for inquisitive young readers. A playful read for outer-space enthusiasts. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.