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All the Stars in the Sky

Illustrated by Winona Nelson

LIST PRICE: AU$ 16.99

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About The Book

Last Stop on Market Street meets We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga in this sweet, bighearted picture book about a young boy who learns the Cherokee lesson of gadugi—how working together and helping each other makes the whole community stronger.

When eager Clay asks his elisi (grandmother) for help to be named star of the week at school, he’s surprised by her answer: No one person is more important than his family and his community. But is Clay still important at all?

This contemplative exploration of community, individualism, and responsibility—accentuated with traditional beadwork in the art—is a moving invitation to consider an indigenous perspective of one’s place in the world and how we all light up our sky, together.

About The Author

Art Coulson is a writer of Cherokee, English, and Dutch descent and comes from a family of storytellers in all three traditions. A Navy brat, Art traveled the world, attending fourteen schools on three continents before graduating high school. Art served as the first executive director of the Wilma Mankiller Foundation in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma after an award-winning twenty-five-year career in journalism. A 2023 McKnight Fellow in Children’s Literature, Art is the author of twenty books, graphic novels, and plays, including Chasing Bigfoot, Bank Street Best Book of 2020 The Reluctant Storyteller, All the Stars in the Sky, and Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi!, which was named a best STEM children’s book by the National Science Teaching Association. Find out more at ArtCoulson.com.

About The Illustrator

Winona Nelson is a fine artist and illustrator of comics and children’s books. She’s the illustrator of If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving by Chris Newell, which was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and All the Stars in the Sky by Art Coulson. Her fine art, which often focuses on the stories and history of her tribe, the Ojibwe of Minnesota, as well as on gender and diversity, has been featured in galleries across the country. She lives in Pennsylvania with her artist beau Anthony and their gentleman cats, Diego and Tod.

Why We Love It

All the Stars in the Sky is a story that moves you—not only for the tender depiction of a grandson’s relationship with his grandmother, but because of its quiet subversive themes of collectivism and community care. Art Coulson’s simple but affecting words paired with Winona Nelson’s stunning artwork create a world that we should all strive for, one that emphasizes care and gratitude for every person and the impact they have on our lives, no matter how big or small.”

—Celia L., Executive Editor, on All the Stars in the Sky

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (October 7, 2025)
  • Length: 40 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781665931380
  • Ages: 4 - 8

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