WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR

The venerable and well-loved song from Disney’s Pinocchio is lovingly re-imagined.

The song has been recorded by dozens of singers in every possible style. Harline’s lyrics are uplifting and hope-filled and have remained in collective memory for 70 years. Each generation of children exposed to reissues of the movie finds it new and fresh. In this version, Puybaret’s visual interpretation wistfully evokes a peaceful and magical world. A star-filled midnight-blue sky glows from the endpapers through the double-page spreads as a unifying motif. The wishing star appears first as a distant, diaphanous, almost ghostlike figure that morphs into a stylized fairy with delicate wings, dressed in blues and yellows. As she floats and flies about, she gathers a parade of multiethnic, multinational children through a brightly colored dreamscape. Then, returning to her place in the sky, she shines benevolently as the children fly about, with and without visible wings. The children’s wishes appear at first to be mostly about candy and toys, but they interact and come together with gestures of peace and acceptance. The children’s clothing, rendered in sharp, bright colors, reflect their various ethnicities but stop just short of stereotype.

Little ones will want to pore over the pages again and again as they read and sing along with the Judy Collins recording that is included. A gem.