The Last Stardog by E.K. Mosley is a brilliant book for children grades kindergarten to second grade. Prismatic illustrations fill the pages and immerse you in a world of multi-colored creatures, humanoid flowers, and even a dog from outer space.
Stardog is a sunshine-yellow dog who dwells on a planet covered with flowers. The planet is small for her size, much like how the asteroid is small for Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince. Stardog is the only stardog around, born of five stars that grouped together. She dreams of dancing with other dogs like her, adorned with stars and flying through the sky. “There was music and laughter and a feeling of belonging,” in her dreams. This all reveals her longing and foreshadows what will happen in the book.
Suddenly, she falls and lands on Earth. As she roams the land, she sees amazing sights, quite unlike the Earth we call home. Mosley gives the planet whimsical touches, like land and sea dragons, a unicorn, a Pegasus, and even blue cats.
Stardog hopes to find another stardog, but this isn’t another Last Unicorn story. She soon learns that she can find loyal friends in a diversity of animals. On her journey, she rescues a luna moth and a crow, and they next meet a lute-playing, sailing frog and become his crew. I love the picture where Stardog and her new pals sail in a boat, followed by an ocean-colored sea dragon playing a tune on a shell horn. The animals then greet a purple-striped tiger, who is accepted by them despite his unusual fur tones.
They cross a dark tunnel, and the blackness overwhelms them, but Stardog fights it with her starlight. “For I shine brightest in the dark!” she says. I’d note that while it’s true that as Christians, we shine bright in an evil world, but our light is not of ourselves. Rather, it’s the Holy Spirit who fuels us with light.
The animals encounter a desert. However, because of Stardog’s feeling of belonging with her friends, stardust emanates from her and brings up flowers from the barren ground. Friendship can feel sunny, though this book doesn’t show what would happen if Stardog and her friends have a fight. It would be something for you and your child to speculate together.
This book is a great nighttime read, as shooting stars and star clusters deck the pages, and it reminds us to cherish the friendships we have. This may not be Mosley’s intention, but it makes me think how Christians, whose Lord is Jesus, can rejoice, mourn, and support each other, even though they’re different.
Hopefully Mosley will share with us more adventures of Stardog with Moth, Crow, Frog, and Tiger.
K.A. Ramstad 