Star bright -- Wan Hu Is in the Stars by Jennifer Armstrong

Teaching Pre K-8, Apr 1995 by Hurst, Carol Otis

Star bright. A very different sort of picture book, but one that's still aimed at the third grade and up crowd, is Jennifer Armstrong's Wan Hu Is in the Stars (Tambourine 1995, ISBN 0-688-12457-7).

Set in China, this lovely picture book tells of a poet, Wan Hu, who wants more than anything to be and to learn among the stars in the sky. His absent-minded behavior as he attempts to do so amuses and befuddles all of the villagers, except the gardener, who somehow believes in him.

Wan Hu's attempts to reach the stars fail miserably until he straps himself to a chair and sets off many rockets. He sails off into the sky, never to be seen again. I hope he made it; so will you.