Review by Booklist Review
Giovanni and Lorenzo, his donkey, are dear friends and Sky Repair Specialists. Every evening, Lorenzo, laden with baskets of star stuff, and Giovanni, armed with his trusty pitchfork, climb into the night sky and patch any holes in the cosmos. All is well until Lorenzo steps into a nebula that refuses to relinquish its grip on the donkey's leg. Giovanni, unable to pull his panicked friend free, cries out for help. The nearby constellation Orion hears his pleas and bounds over to assist, but the leg remains firmly mired. Cancer the crab and Taurus the bull come running, and finally, with a mighty combined pull, the donkey's leg pops free, and the grateful Sky Repair Specialists thank their literal lucky stars. The bouncy, rhyming text has an occasionally awkward meter, but the eye-catching illustrations burst with starlight and sweetness, and the constellations are cleverly rendered as actual beings with their star scaffolding shining through. There isn't any scientific or mythological discussion here, but the friendly fantasy brings the night sky beautifully to life.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Giovanni the farmer and his donkey, Lorenzo, are "Specialists in Sky Repair" in this celestial story that features constellations coming to the rescue. Through lightly rhyming lines by Burkert, Giovanni and Lorenzo are described roaming the cosmos, looking for holes and filling them from a basket of "star stuff." When Lorenzo gets his foot stuck in a nebula ("Swirls of dust and plumes of gas"), the donkey can't escape until friendly, blue-hued constellations--Orion the Hunter, Cancer the Crab, and Taurus the Bull--appear one by one, cooperating to pull the donkey free. With a bold brush, bright colors, and rounded, friendly looking figures, Raschka mixes warm-hued elements, including pale-skinned Giovanni's feathered Tyrolean hat and Lorenzo's red bridle, with blue-lit constellations to create an unexpected collision of the rustic and the interstellar. Rather than writing about them as scientific phenomena, Burkert personifies astral entities as old friends in this folktale-flavored turn on the intergalactic. Ages 4--8. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Burkert's (Mouse and Lion, rev. 11/11) original tale uses traditional folkloric structures and motifs to explain how the stars get into the night sky. Giovanni, with his felt hat and drooping mustache, and his donkey, Lorenzo, are "Specialists in Sky Repair." They wander through the night sky "searching for holes to fill with stars." When they find an open space, Giovanni throws "star stuff" into the hole, where it gathers strength and begins to glow. Then Lorenzo takes a wrong step and gets a hoof caught in a nebula. Giovanni is unable to free the donkey on his own and calls out for help. One by one, constellations Orion the Hunter, Cancer the Crab, and Taurus the Bull join forces and pull Lorenzo free. After a good night's work, Giovanni and Lorenzo lumber back to Earth to rest. The loosely rhyming text is a pleasure to read aloud: "Hurrah! Lorenzo is free. / He shakes his flanks. / Giovanni bows, he gives his thanks." Raschka's (illustrator of Yellow Dog Blues, rev. 9/22, and many others) dynamic watercolor illustrations swirl and swoop across the page. Part porquoi story, part cumulative tale, this is both an enjoyable introduction to the constellations and an imaginative bedtime story. Maeve Visser KnothSeptember/October 2023 p.48 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A whimsical tale that creatively introduces three constellations. Specialists in Sky Repair, Giovanni, a jolly, light-skinned mustachioed fellow, and his sweet donkey, Lorenzo, roam the skies as custodians of heavenly matter. They fill holes in the universe with "star stuff," which magically morphs into bright stars. When Lorenzo's hoof is trapped by a nebula, Giovanni needs help freeing his friend. Who can help them? Readers meet Orion, the Hunter; Taurus, the Bull; and Cancer, the Crab, as they try to pull Lorenzo out of trouble, echoing Winnie-the-Pooh's sticky situation. Raschka's soft and luminous illustrations engage, with bold brush strokes that create celestial energy. The pops of red on the donkey's bridle and Giovanni's hat and shoes provide excellent contrast to the dark heavens. The text pales in comparison. The rhyming has an uneven meter, making reading aloud clumsy. Both nebulas and constellations are undefined (do nebulas have gravitational pull?), and the constellations quickly enter and exit the scene--a missed opportunity to offer clues to both the science and the mythology. Yet the man and his donkey, like Sancho Panza and Dapple, are affectionally portrayed, full of compassion and care for each other. This is a curious introduction to constellations--a better story about helping one's donkey friend. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Dreamlike and quirky. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
