"A lyrical and reassuring meditation on the human condition."
Manuel Šumberac’s striking and very beautiful illustrations will be the first thing to draw readers to this spellbinding picture book but the story, written by Cornelia Funke, an uplifting meditation on the human condition, will have an equally strong impact.
It tells of a young angel, Barnabel, only 3,022 years old, who longs to cross the bridge that spans the stars to the world below where humans dwell. The older angels tell him he’s too young, that he doesn’t know about the Dark Things, but on his 3,023rd birthday, the angel Zadkiel reminds Barnabel of the dark things that he himself left behind when he crossed the bridge: pain, loneliness, rage, and fear. Weighed down with that knowledge and his memories, Barnabel is at last allowed to escort humans across the bridge, first, a young girl. The final spread shows the two flying together into the stars.
With its gleaming yellow and black palette, this is an unforgettable story, a lyrical and reassuring means of introducing the idea that we all cross that bridge someday, and, as Cornelia Funke hopes, it will help chase the Dark Things away.
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An exquisitely illustrated story for anyone who needs hope and comfort in difficult times. A young angel learns about the Dark Things that humans carry - pain, loneliness and fear - and how to ease that burden.
'What is death?'
'That's what the humans call the bridge. They fear it very much. And that is why we fly to meet them.'
Barnabel is a young angel who longs for a time he might be allowed to go on to the Bridge. But first he must learn about the Dark Things - pain, loneliness, rage and always fear. So much fear. And only when he is ready to carry these things and outweigh the heaviest human heart will he be able to chase away the shadows and fly all the way over the bridge.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Bridge Beyond the Stars and determined it is suitable for children aged 7-10 years old
The Bridge Beyond the Stars features in the following genres: Featured Books for 7+ readers, Featured Books for 9+ readers, Recommendations, Fantasy / Magical, PSHE: Bereavement and Grief, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children's and Young Adult Fiction
The Bridge Beyond the Stars is available in Hardback
The Bridge Beyond the Stars was written by Cornelia Funke and published by Welbeck Children's Books an imprint of Hachette Children's Group
The Bridge Beyond the Stars has 48 pages
£15.29
