ALA Booklist

This charming picture book opens with the first, familiar stanza of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," written more than 100 years ago by Jane Taylor, who is not credited here. Cabrera replaces the seldom-heard remaining verses with new ones, in which the star sparkles, flickers, and shimmers over different parts of the earth, such as forest, ocean, and desert. Each of the first nine double-page paintings features a little animal and its parent looking over a distinctive landscape while a bright-yellow star glows in the sky. The concluding stanza opens with the star shining down on the whole earth, seen from space. Although the text works fine for reading aloud, adults who sing the book aloud will probably stumble over the last stanza, which has eight four-beat lines rather than six. Musical notes and chord notations for the familiar tune are appended. Cabrera's distinctive paintings of baby animals and their parents create a riveting focus for young children, and the bold lines, energetic brushwork, and naive style should please their parents as well. A fresh take on an old favorite.

Horn Book

This successful interpretation of the familiar lullaby highlights the landscapes over which the star twinkles, from forest to ocean to desert. Depicted warmly in Cabrera's paintings, parent-child animal duos from each habitat smile up at the star, until the last verse zeros in on a human mother and baby. The original music appears on the inside back cover.

Kirkus Reviews

A pink-cheeked version of a song most everyone knows, with new verses highlighting cozy animal dyads across the world. The bright yellow and red owlet with its parent opens the lullaby with the verse we all know. Next a papa deer and fawn in the forest, a whale and calf in the sea, a kangaroo and joey in the outback, vulture and chick and so on, each filling a two-page spread. The verse mirrors the pictures: "Glisten, glisten, little star, / how I wonder what you are. / Up above the grassy plain …" shows a papa lion and cub, and on the next spread--"…through the warm, wet jungle rain"--a pair of rosy-cheeked monkeys. The five-pointed, butter-gold star is prominently visible on every spread. Color and line are thick and bold, while all of the animals, from polar bears to pussy cats, have button eyes and the suggestion of human smiles. The final verse ("Twinkle over towns and trees, / fields and farms, / Lakes and seas") shows just such a vista, with lollipop trees, a building-block city and a little red lighthouse. The concluding spread, "Twinkle, twinkle, up above … // … for me and for / the one I love" pictures that bright star on one page facing a golden-haired mother and child. The music for this venerable tune is on the back endpaper. A nursery charmer. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Cabrera expands on this classic nursery rhyme, taking readers around the globe as friendly parent-child animal pairs cuddle together and gaze up at a chunky five-pointed star in the night sky. With each new verse, Cabrera switches both the setting and the quality of the star-s light: -Glisten, glisten, little star/ how I wonder what you are./ Up above the grassy plain.../ through the warm, wet jungle rain.- Bright colors and thickly painted vignettes generate a mood of comfort and safety, culminating in a scene that shows a human mother and child staring at the star before bedtime. Ages 2-5. (Aug.)

School Library Journal

PreS Expanding on the beloved nursery song, this picture book starts with the original verse and then adds more while showing the star from various vantage points around the planet. Bold, playful paintings full of texture, bright colors, and thick black outlines take readers from the forest to the ocean to the Arctic to the jungle with animals who watch the little star "sparkle sparkle," "flicker flicker," "shimmer shimmer," and "glisten glisten." Pairs of parent/child animals including whales, kangaroos, vultures, and polar bears feature big smiles and bright eyes as they stare up at the star that ties each page and verse together. The closing rhyme with a human mother and baby summarizes, "Twinkle over towns and trees,/fields and farms,/Lakes and seas./Twinkle, twinkle, up above&30;/&30;for me and for/the one I love." Nighttime silhouette endpapers also include the music for the tune. Jerry Pinkney's lush version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Little Brown, 2011) has a more complex and imaginative narrative, but younger children who are not quite ready for it will enjoy this bright volume. Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA