Starland is an upcoming picture book that explores environmental themes and helps readers see things from new perspectives. It features a simple, low-poly illustration style.
The story is set in a world where it's always nighttime, and the animals rely on fallen stars to power their city. But using the stars creates smoke. When the stars run out, they fear it's the end, only to discover that the smoke had been hiding the real sky all along.
The idea came from how Earth's ozone layer began to recover when factories paused during the 2020 pandemic. It's about hope in dark times and serves as a metaphor that what we’ve believed all our lives might not be true—and reality can turn out even better.
STARLAND
1.Once upon a time, on the darkest nights, stars always fell from the sky.
2.There was an island called Starland.
Starland was a small island with no sunlight, no moon, no sky, only night.
3.Hi everyone! Mr. Meow Meow woke up and started getting ready for the day. Mr. Meow Meow lives on Starland.
He is going to work now.
4.Mr. Meow Meow takes the cable car to work every day.
Starland is a place with no sunlight, no moon, no sky, only night. Everyone uses fallen stars as energy.
5.Mr. Meow Meow is a star collector on the sea.
He takes the cable car to the port every day and then sails a small boat to collect stars.
6.Mr. Meow Meow looks for shiniest stars on the dark sea.
7.Mr. Meow Meow loves it the most when he is lucky enough to see a star shower.
8.After a star shower, Mr. Meow Meow always finds star rivers. The stars glitter with all kinds of wonderful colors.
9.Even though collecting stars is hard work, he always returns with a full load.
10.Mr. Meow Meow loves stars of all colors. The blue stars have the most energy, and the red stars are the coolest. Each one has a unique purpose.
11.Mr. Meow Meow delivers stars and sometimes helps replace street lights.
12.Mr. Meow Meow also takes the collected stars to the indoor garden, where the plants bloom because of the stars. This garden supports all of Starland.
13.At the end of his work, he rewards himself with a string of fish and sits on top of the lighthouse.
Mr. Meow Meow feels proud of his job.
14.Although Mr. Meow Meow loves stars, he doesn't like the smoke from star fuel.
The smoke makes it hard for him to breathe and see clearly.
15.One day, as usual, Mr. Meow Meow went to collect stars.
He found that the number of stars had decreased, and some were no longer shining.
16.There were no star rivers or star showers on the sea, and Mr. Meow Meow felt very sad. The weather today is unusually cold.
17.After a long time, there were almost no stars left, and Starland stopped functioning. Animals are cold, hungry, and scared.
18.Mr. Meow Meow looked at the city that seemed to be asleep from his home, holding the last star, and fell asleep sadly.
19. The last star died. Starland fell asleep.
20.(The smoke in the sky cleared away.)
21.A strong light woke Mr. Meow Meow up. He opened his eyes in confusion.
22.The thick smoke above the city was gone, and he saw the sky full of stars.
It turned out the star smoke had covered the original sky.
23.The sky full of stars lit up the whole city, filling it with energy. All the animals came out in awe.
24.Mr. Meow Meow quickly rows his boat far, far away towards the open sea.
25.Mr. Meow Meow wanted to take a moment to gaze lovingly at his cherished Starland for the first time.
The end.
