MY FRIEND, THE STARFINDER

In this simple story a child is dazzled by the stories of an elderly neighbor: "The stranger they were, the truer he looked. And I believed every one." First, there's the story about the star he saw falling as a child. The starfinder retrieves it and shares it with the child, who reports: "It was warm and smooth as an egg straight from the hen." In another tale, the starfinder gets to the rainbow's end, where he reports that his body was striped with colors. Narrator Julia Gibson does a good job conveying the poetic simplicity of this tale, allowing herself time to emphasize its phrasing and linger over its internal rhymes and rhythms. Young listeners will enjoy a conversation about truth and imagination after the story. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]