Child, you are awake!
You are alive!
You are a bright star,
Inside our hearts.
Told with a combination of powerful, spare language and sumptuous and complex imagery that is typical of Yuyi Morales’s work, this is the story of a fawn making her way through a border landscape teaming with flora and fauna native to the region. A gentle but empowering voice encourages her to face her fears when she comes across an obstacle in the form of an insurmountable barrier.
Yuyi Morales’ first book since her New York Times bestseller Dreamers is a book for very young children looking for their place in a world full of uncertainty. It is a book with resonance for all children, especially those whose safety is threatened due to the immigration crisis in the US.
Bright Star is also available in a Spanish language edition, Lucero.
¿Who is?
Yuyi Morales
Yuyi Morales was born in Xalapa, Mexico on November 7, 1968. The first years of Yuyi’s life were marked by both scarcity and creativity. Yuyi and her two sisters did not have the same clothes or receive the same presents as their schoolmates. Instead, their mother sewed Yuyi and her sisters’ clothes, bedsheets, curtains, and lampshades. When the family couldn’t afford the gifts the girls wanted for their birthdays, Yuyi’s mother would make everything from the cakes to the invitations to their dresses to their shoes. In a sense, her mother’s resourcefulness was Yuyi’s first introduction to art.
Other Books
Dreamers
We are resilience. We are hope. We are dreamers.
Viva Frida
A 2015 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2015 Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award
Niño Wrestles the World
Señoras y señores, put your hands together for the fantastic, spectacular, one of a kind . . .Niño!
My Blog
Projects
Yuyi’s lyrics for Cascabelito Migrante
Yuyi wrote lyrical verses for a song titled, Cascabelito Migrante, which she intended to perform in her Pura Belpre Medal acceptance speech in 2019. When Yuyi could not perform the song due to time constraints, she filmed a video instead. Cascabelito Migrante is a...
Mural for Brooklyn Public Library Central Library’s Youth Wing
In 2019, the Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library unveiled a multi-paneled mural in their Youth Wing featuring work by Yuyi as well as noted illustrators, Christopher Myers, Selina Alko, and Paul Zelinsky. In her 8 x 11 foot mural panel, Yuyi depicted herself and...
“La Valiente” illustration for RESIST!
In 2017, Yuyi contributed La Valiente, an illustration for RESIST! a free print publication edited and produced by The New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly and her daughter, Nadja Spiegleman. RESIST! was founded after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Its slogan,...
Video created in gratitude to the Pura Belpré Award Committee for Dreamers
Yuyi made this video as a token of her appreciation to the 2019 Pura Belpre Award Committee.
The Making of Dreamers: Yuyi Morales’ Photo Essay for Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
In anticipation of the release of Yuyi's book, Dreamers, she contributed a photo essay on her creative process for the book for the noted children's book blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Yuyi's photo essay gave readers unique insight into the creation...
Keynote address for School Library Journal’s 2018 Day of Dialog
In 2018, Yuyi was invited to give a keynote address at the School Library Journal's Day of Dialog. School Library Journal's Day of Dialog is an event for librarians to interact with notable authors, editors, and publishers in the book industry. Yuyi's keynote speech...
For inquiries, contact:
info@yuyimorales.com