In his debut children’s book, Stars in My Crown illustrated by Richy Sánchez Ayala, Antonio Michael Downing shares his experiences living in Trinidad and Canada in a story about patience.

Little Tony lives in a small village in Trinidad. He lives there with his Grandma Excelly and his older brother. Little Tony has very big feelings. Grandma Excelly reminds him that he has stars in his crown and one of the stars is patience. Being patient is really hard. When Little Tony and his older brother move to Canada, he is sad and his patience is tested but he remembers his stars and Grandma Excelly’s song to help guide him in his new home.

What a lovely story from Antonio Michael Downing and I hope there are more picture books from him in the future. Stars in My Crown is a story about big feelings as well as moving from one place to another and the culture shock that one would experience. I particularly loved how after Grandma Excelly explains about the stars to Little Tony, he still struggles with his big feelings. It’s so reflective of the feelings of young readers. One strategy isn’t going to magically make them have patience.

I love how Antonio Michael Downing includes places for young readers to participate in the story. When Little Tony is frustrated and yells out, “Yaaarrgh!!”. Young readers can join in the reading and let out their frustrations along with Little Tony. I also love the song from Grandma Excelly, a hymn originally composed by E.E. Hewitt. Pairing the book with the song allows readers to experience the story in a couple different ways.

The beautiful illustrations by Richy Sánchez Ayala are vibrant and joyful. The illustrations celebrate the beauty of both the tropical rainforest of Trinidad as well as the deep winter of Canada. Richy Sánchez Ayala uses all of the colours to depict this story and big bold faces to show the emotions throughout the story.