Lore of the Stars: Folklore and Wisdom from the Skies Above - Hardcover

by Claire Cock-Starkey (Author), Hannah Bess Ross (Illustrator)

Look up at the skies in wonder with this mystically illustrated treasury of folklore from above and beyond.
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*2023 American Scientist Holiday Gift Guide Selection*

Did you know that people used to read the future in the flight of birds? That the constellations were thought to be mythological beings set in the sky? And that eclipses were seen as demonic omens?

For millennia, humans have looked to the heavens to explain the world around and above them. The myths, folktales, and lore that have arisen from these wonderings are as mysterious as they are varied--here, they're set down in a beautifully illustrated and engaging format for readers 6-12 years old. Lore of the Stars takes readers deep into space and back through the mists of time to discover the myriad answers to our most ancient questions.

Divided into six chapters:

• The Sky
• The Sun
• The Moon
• The Stars
• Planets, Comets, & Shooting Stars
• The Cosmos

You will uncover the secrets of augury, the meanings of types of weather, stories explaining the birth of the Milky Way, and the beings and deities said to govern the worlds above.

Also in the series:

• Lore of the Wild: Folklore and Wisdom from Nature
• Lore of the Land: Folklore and Wisdom from the Wild Eart h

Author Biography

Claire Cock-Starkey is an author who worked with Ben Schott on his hugely successful Miscellanies and Almanacs. She has worked for BBC Radio 4 and written many other miscellanies and fact-filled books on history, libraries, words, books, and museums, including: Penguins, Pineapples and Pangolins (British Library, 2016), The Book Lovers' Miscellany (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2017). She is happiest perched in the British Library reading rooms surrounded by a pile of obscure and fascinating books, researching her next book.

Hannah Bess Ross is a Chicago-based illustrator and writer interested in all realms whimsy. She lives in a little house with a blue door and an orange cat but dreams of the woods and the waves of rocky seas far, far away. She likes telling stories and everyday magical things like bugs and stars. She also loves the puppets, folk art, and silly word-play. Hannah is the illustrator of A World Full of Nature Stories (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2022) and Lore of the Stars (Wide Eyed Editions, 2023).