Lucky's Star​ - The Story of a Meteorite

Lucky's Star​ - The Story of a Meteorite by Mark Greenwood, illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (CSIRO Publishing 2025) HB RRP $26.99 ISBN 9781486318070

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

On a quiet spring morning, something strange falls from the sky and lands on a small country town.

Lucky watches as 'stars' rain down on the fields and farms, but just what are these unusual objects?

And what will Lucky do with her own special find?

Follow Lucky as she discovers a very special rock that fell from space.

As a child I was one of those readers who preferred reading nonfiction books when they incorporated elements of fiction because they helped me engage with and absorb information easier. So, I was happy to find that this was how Mark Greenwood - history-hunter and award-winning author - chose to approach the narrative in Lucky's Star - by creatively sharing the story of a significant Australian event through the fictional character of a young girl called Lucky.  

Lucky finds a piece of the meteor (her little star) and takes it home with her. At night she wonders if her star has left an empty space in the sky and vows to return it. Her well-thought out attempts to relaunch the star fail, so she goes to the professor for help. He tells her it cannot be returned to the sky - but he finds the perfect forever home for her special star instead.

The text is easy to read and accessible to young children, allowing them to readily engage with the story and learn about this extraordinary event in Australia's past.

Award-winner Lucia Masciullo's illustrations add an appealing, whimsical layer to support the text and bring the story - and the small Australian farming town of Murchison in the 1960's - to life. Her soft muted tones bring a realism to the landscape and the details included to represent this decade are well researched and a pleasure to see.

I love the gently humorous details she includes in her illustrations - and the expression on the animals’ faces as the rocks fall are priceless! I also love the double page illustration of Lucky where she is reading at a table strewn with a plethora of items - marbles, an eraser, a record single, a spinning top, a wooden pencil box etc. - all reminiscent of this decade and commonplace before technology stepped in. And the double page illustration of the meteorite streaking over fields and farmland is an impressive sight.

The celestial spectacle was the talk of the town that Sunday morning. Murchison locals gossiped that the spooky rocks strewn across spring pastures might carry alien germs.

Having a meteor shower would have been a spectacular event for the townsfolk of Murchison in 1969. And whilst they would have had a renewed fascination with space - considering that the first moon landing had taken place earlier that same year - there still would have been way less information available (compared to what we have now) so it is reasonable for them to have had some strange ideas about the rocks that fell. Scientists - on the other hand - embraced this event as the perfect opportunity to discover and learn more about the mysteries of the universe.

The closing pages feature some thoroughly enjoyable, interesting facts on the Murchison meteorite to inspire deeper learning and understanding and to encourage further conversations and a host of more questions from children - along with a detailed glossary covering a wide range of space-related words. 

Lucky's Star comes in the form of a book where information meets imagination, adding an element of play to the learning process - making it accessible to all the different kinds of young readers out there. It is the perfect book for curious kids and particularly ideal for those who enjoy learning about outer space, science, meteorites and Australian history - and will make an excellent addition to schools and children's libraries.

Highly recommended and suitable for ages 5-9 years.

Teachers’ notes - aligned to the Australian Curriculum - are free to download from the CSIRO Publishing website: publish.csiro.au/book/8146/#forteachers