All the Stars in the Sky

A Chicago Public Library Best Picture Book of 2025
★ “Between story and art, this is a staggeringly lovely book, worth a readaloud in a classroom and perfect for a young one who may need reminding that everyone is important as part of the community.” – The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, STARRED REVIEW
“This tender book is a warm exploration of the value of community.” – The Washington Post
“The Cherokee concept of gadugi—’when we work together and help each other out, our community is stronger’—serves as a gentle reframe in this values-based work that focuses on constellations over individual stars.” – Publishers Weekly
“Original, exceptional, unique, compelling.” – The Midwest Book Review
“Using straightforward language, Cherokee, English, and Dutch author Coulson…expertly shows Elisi passing knowledge across generations and with love—an action that prompts a shift in the boy’s focus. Three-dimensional-feeling colored pencil and watercolor illustrations by Ojibwe artist Nelson…intersperse warm domestic images with sweeping views of the night sky, and the addition of beaded motifs underscores the book’s message: “Each star plays its part in keeping the constellation together.”” – Publishers Weekly

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.

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.

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